Fade Out
by ElyzaLex
Summary: The wolves arrive too late to save Bella from Laurent, but time has other plans for her.
1. Chapter 1

Bella woke up as a vampire by the ocean.

Before she even opened her eyes after her heart gave its final 'thud', she could tell that much. The smell of salt lingered on the air with the underlying scent of fish. All of those fishing trips that Charlie dragged her on had, at the very least, made her intimately familiar with the odor.

Moss and clumps of soft dirt spilled over her fingers as she flexed them, feeling each muscle and tendon shift. Taking a lung full of unnecessary air, Bella tasted salt and something else that she could only identify as _clean._ It was different than Forks, with the trees and all that green never quite leaving your nose, or Phoenix, where you can practically taste the heat and gasoline on the merciful breeze. Here, the air just tasted fresh in a way that Bella had never experienced.

The sound of waves crashing startled Bella from her inner musings, and for the first time in her new life, she opened her eyes.

Light beamed down at her as the sun overhead caught her immediate attention. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and Bella found herself staring directly into that harsh light for several moments before finally tearing her eyes away as a bird sailed across her view. Her newly red irises tracked the animal, and when she focused, Bella could see each individual feather overlapping each other on the fragile body above her. She caught herself counting each barb on a single feather as it soared.

Before long, her attention waned on the flying creature, as she took stock of her surroundings.

Bella lay in the middle of a narrow strip of land that stretched and grew wider into a sudden barrier of trees above her head, but thinned to a point at her feet. The thought entered her mind to stand before she was suddenly on her feet, and Bella was once again distracted as she got used to her new body. A sprinkling of wetness on the side of her face broke her from her reverie.

It seemed that along with better senses and a supernaturally strong body came a small attention span.

Looking around from her standing position, Bella could see that she was on a thin cliffside that rose high up from the churning waters below. The last few waves were so harsh that they just barely managed to climb halfway up the steep rock. Trying to see beyond the horizon proved a fruitless effort for Bella. All she could see in every direction was that same deep blue water. The sparkling waves reflected the sun's light, bouncing off the clear water and back onto Bella.

Bella looked down and saw diamonds.

Her skin glittered like a precious stone from the light all round her, and Bella's hand drifted up to her face as she stood, mesmerized by the sight.

A flash of color in the corner of her vision caught her eye, and Bella's head whipped down as she reached to pull the collar of her shirt into her line of sight, accidentally tearing the fabric in her grip a bit in her haste. Her white shirt was stained with a sort of rusty brown, and it only took Bella a moment to identify the source as she took a breath with the material held up to her face.

Instantly, vibrant red eyes were swallowed whole as her pupils dilated. The scent was a bit faint, but there was no mistaking the sudden intense burning in her throat.

 _Blood._

Bella was almost hypnotized as she stared at the dried blood. Bringing the fabric closer to her face, the sound of tearing snapped Bella out of the haze she had been put into by the tempting smell.

Bella could tell from the color that the blood was a few days old, and her horrified speculations about having killed someone in some sort of blood crazed frenzy died as the realization took over.

It was her blood.

Bella quickly recovered from her shock as she tried to draw some conclusion about how she had ended up here, on some strange cliffside, by the ocean, stained by her own blood.

 _It was the same place, of that Bella was instantly sure._

 _She'd never seen another clearing so symmetrical. It was as perfectly round as if someone had intentionally created the flawless circle, tearing out the trees but leaving no evidence of that violence in the waving grass. To the east, she could hear the stream bubbling quietly._

 _The place wasn't nearly so stunning without the sunlight, but it was still very beautiful and serene. It was the wrong season for wildflowers; the ground was thick with tall grass that swayed in the light breeze like ripples across a lake._

 _It was the same place, but it didn't hold what Bella had been searching for._

 _The disappointment was nearly as instantaneous as the recognition. She sank down right where she was, kneeling there at the edge of the clearing, beginning to gasp._

 _What was the point of going any farther? Nothing lingered here. Nothing more than the memories that she could have called back whenever she wanted to, if she was ever willing to endure the corresponding pain—the pain that had her now, had her cold. There was nothing special about this place without him. Bella wasn't exactly sure what she'd hoped to feel here, but the meadow was empty of atmosphere, empty of everything, just like everywhere else. Just like her nightmares. Her head swirled dizzily._

 _At least she'd come alone. Bella felt a rush of thankfulness as she realized that. If she'd discovered the meadow with Jacob… well, there was no way she could have disguised the abyss she was plunging into now. How could she have explained the way she was fracturing into pieces, the way she had to curl into a ball to keep the empty hole from tearing her apart? It was so much better that she didn't have an audience._

 _And she wouldn't have to explain to anyone why she was in such a hurry to leave, either. Jacob would have assumed, after going to so much trouble to locate the stupid place, she would want to spend more than a few seconds here. But Bella was already trying to find the strength to get to her feet again, forcing herself out of the ball so that she could escape. There was too much pain in this empty place to bear—she would crawl away if she had to._

 _How lucky that she was alone!_

 _Alone. Bella repeated the word with grim satisfaction as she wrenched herself to her feet despite the pain. At precisely that moment, a figure stepped out from the trees to the north, some thirty paces away._

 _A dizzying array of emotions shot through Bella in a second. The first was surprise; She was far from any trail here, and she didn't expect company. Then, as her eyes focused on the motionless figure, seeing the utter stillness, the pallid skin, a rush of piercing hope rocked through her. She suppressed it viciously, fighting against the equally sharp lash of agony as her eyes continued to the face beneath the black hair, the face that wasn't the one she wanted to see. Next was fear; this was not the face she grieved for, but it was close enough for Bella to know that the man facing her was no stray hiker._

 _And finally, in the end, recognition._

 _"Laurent!" Bella cried in surprised pleasure._

 _It was an irrational response. She probably should have stopped at fear._

 _Laurent had been one of James's coven when they'd first met. He hadn't been involved with the hunt that followed—the hunt where she was the quarry—but that was only because he was afraid; Bella was protected by a bigger coven than his own. It would have been different if that wasn't the case—he'd had no compunctions, at the time, against making a meal of her. Of course, he must have changed, because he'd gone to Alaska to live with the other civilized coven there, the other family that refused to drink human blood for ethical reasons. The other family like… but she couldn't let herself think the name._

 _Yes, fear would have made more sense, but all Bella felt was an overwhelming satisfaction. The meadow was a magic place again. A darker magic than she'd expected, to be sure, but magic all the same. Here was the connection she'd sought. The proof, however remote, that—somewhere in the same world where she lived— he did exist._

 _It was impossible how exactly the same Laurent looked. Bella supposed it was very silly and human to expect some kind of change in the last year. But there was something… she couldn't quite put her finger on it._

 _"Bella?" he asked, looking more astonished than Bella felt._

 _"You remember." She smiled. It was ridiculous that she should be so elated because a vampire knew her name._

 _He grinned. "I didn't expect to see you here." He strolled toward her, his expression bemused._

 _"Isn't it the other way around? I do live here. I thought you'd gone to Alaska."_

 _He stopped about ten paces away, cocking his head to the side. His face was the most beautiful face she'd seen in what felt like an eternity. Bella studied his features with a strangely greedy sense of release. Here was someone she didn't have to pretend for—someone who already knew everything she could never say._

 _"You're right," he agreed. "I did go to Alaska. Still, I didn't expect… When I found the Cullen place empty, I thought they'd moved on."_

 _"Oh." She bit her lip as the name set the raw edges of her wound throbbing. It took her a second to compose herself. Laurent waited with curious eyes._

 _"They did move on," She finally managed to tell him._

 _"Hmm," he murmured. "I'm surprised they left you behind. Weren't you sort of a pet of theirs?"_

 _His eyes were innocent of any intended offense._

 _Bella smiled wryly. "Something like that."_

 _"Hmm," he said, thoughtful again._

 _At that precise moment, she realized why he looked the same—too much the same. After Carlisle told them that Laurent had stayed with Tanya's family, she'd begun to picture him, on the rare occasions that she thought of him at all, with the same golden eyes that the… Cullens—she forced the name out, wincing—had. That all good vampires had._

 _Bella took an involuntary step back, and his curious, dark red eyes followed the movement._

 _"Do they visit often?" he asked, still casual, but his weight shifted toward her._

 _"Lie," the beautiful velvet voice whispered anxiously from her memory._

 _Bella started at the sound of his voice, but it should not have surprised her. Was she not in the worst danger imaginable? The motorcycle was safe as kittens next to this._

 _She did what the voice said to do._

 _"Now and again." She tried to make her voice light, relaxed. "The time seems longer to me, I imagine. You know how they get distracted…" She was beginning to babble. She had to work to shut herself up._

 _"Hmm," he said again. "The house smelled like it had been vacant for a while…"_

 _"You must lie better than that, Bella," the voice urged._

 _Bella tried. "I'll have to mention to Carlisle that you stopped by. He'll be sorry they missed your visit." She pretended to deliberate for a second. "But I probably shouldn't mention it to… Edward, I suppose—" She barely managed to say his name, and it twisted her expression on the way out, ruining her bluff "—he has such a temper… well, I'm sure you remember. He's still touchy about the whole James thing." She rolled her eyes and waved one hand dismissively, like it was all ancient history, but there was an edge of hysteria to her voice. She wondered if he would recognize what it was._

 _"Is he really?" Laurent asked pleasantly… skeptically._

 _She kept her reply short, so that her voice wouldn't betray her panic. "Mm-hmm."_

 _Laurent took a casual step to the side, gazing around at the little meadow. Bella didn't miss that the step brought him closer to her. In her head, the voice responded with a low snarl._

 _"So how are things working out in Denali? Carlisle said you were staying with Tanya?" Her voice was too high._

 _The question made him pause. "I like Tanya very much," he mused. "And her sister Irina even more… I've never stayed in one place for so long before, and I enjoy the advantages, the novelty of it. But, the restrictions are difficult… I'm surprised that any of them can keep it up for long." He smiled at her conspiratorially. "Sometimes I cheat."_

 _Bella couldn't swallow. Her foot started to ease back, but she froze when his red eyes flickered down to catch the movement._

 _"Oh," She said in a faint voice. "Jasper has problems with that, too."_

 _"Don't move," the voice whispered. She tried to do what he instructed. It was hard; the instinct to take flight was nearly uncontrollable._

 _"Really?" Laurent seemed interested. "Is that why they left?"_

 _"No," Bella answered honestly. "Jasper is more careful at home."_

 _"Yes," Laurent agreed. "I am, too."_

 _The step forward he took now was quite deliberate._

 _"Did Victoria ever find you?" She asked, breathless, desperate to distract him. It was the first question that popped into her head, and she regretted it as soon as the words were spoken. Victoria—who had hunted her with James, and then disappeared—was not someone she wanted to think of at this particular moment._

 _But the question did stop him._

 _"Yes," he said, hesitating on that step. "I actually came here as a favor to her." He made a face. "She won't be happy about this."_

 _"About what?" Bella said eagerly, inviting him to continue. He was glaring into the trees, away from her. She took advantage of his diversion, taking a furtive step back._

 _He looked back at her and smiled—the expression made him look like a black-haired angel._

 _"About me killing you," he answered in a seductive purr._

 _Bella staggered back another step. The frantic growling in her head made it hard to hear._

 _"She wanted to save that part for herself," he went on blithely. "She's sort of… put out with you, Bella."_

 _"Me?" She squeaked._

 _He shook his head and chuckled. "I know, it seems a little backward to me, too. But James was her mate, and your Edward killed him."_

 _Even here, on the point of death, his name tore against her unhealed wounds like a serrated edge._

 _Laurent was oblivious to her reaction. "She thought it more appropriate to kill you than Edward—fair turnabout, mate for mate. She asked me to get the lay of the land for her, so to speak. I didn't imagine you would be so easy to get to. So maybe her plan was flawed—apparently it wouldn't be the revenge she imagined, since you must not mean very much to him if he left you here unprotected."_

 _Another blow, another tear through her chest._

 _Laurent's weight shifted slightly, and she stumbled another step back._

 _He frowned. "I suppose she'll be angry, all the same."_

 _"Then why not wait for her?" Bella choked out._

 _A mischievous grin rearranged his features. "Well, you've caught me at a bad time, Bella. I didn't come to this place on Victoria's mission—I was hunting. I'm quite thirsty, and you do smell… simply mouthwatering."_

 _Laurent looked at her with approval, as if he meant it as a compliment._

 _"Threaten him," the beautiful delusion ordered, his voice distorted with dread._

 _"He'll know it was you," She whispered obediently. "You won't get away with this."_

 _"And why not?" Laurent's smile widened. He gazed around the small opening in the trees. "The scent will wash away with the next rain. No one will find your body—you'll simply go missing, like so many, many other humans. There's no reason for Edward to think of me, if he cares enough to investigate. This is nothing personal, let me assure you, Bella. Just thirst."_

 _"Beg," Her hallucination begged._

 _"Please," She gasped._

 _Laurent shook his head, his face kind. "Look at it this way, Bella. You're very lucky I was the one to find you."_

 _"Am I?" Bella mouthed, faltering another step back._

 _Laurent followed, lithe and graceful._

 _"Yes," he assured her. "I'll be very quick. You won't feel a thing, I promise. Oh, I'll lie to Victoria about that later, naturally, just to placate her. But if you knew what she had planned for you, Bella…" He shook his head with a slow movement, almost as if in disgust. "I swear you'd be thanking me for this."_

 _She stared at him in horror._

 _He sniffed at the breeze that blew threads of her hair in his direction. "Mouthwatering," he repeated, inhaling deeply. Distantly, Bella thought she could hear a howl carry to her from miles away._

" _The Volturi!" The words poured out of her mouth as a last resort, but they managed to stop him in his tracks. He tilted his head curiously at her._

" _Yes? What about them?" Laurent inquired almost hesitantly._

" _They make the rules, right?" She spoke quickly, the panic having almost completely taken over and left her with nothing but half formed hopes._

 _Laurent nodded at her, looking put off by this interruption in his mealtime._

 _Bella swallowed the sob bubbling up her throat at the thought._

" _Don't they have some sort of rule against this?" She rushed out. "Killing another vampire's mate? Otherwise they'd have desperate people asking them for justice all the time!"_

 _Laurent simply stared at her for a moment, before a deep laugh shook him._

" _The Volturi do not care for such matters! They are the ruling vampires in the world! Aro considers only power as his priority, he cares not for the pitiful whining of his subjects. If there was ever a more prudent example of a vampire not having a soul, it would be him." He laughed in her paling face even as he closed the distance between them._

 _He took a firm grip of her hair before gently, almost soothingly, tilting her neck back. His mouth hovered at her throat, but Bella had run out of pleas. Her trembling had stopped, and in its place a calm took her over. She had been waiting for this. This end to her suffering caused by vampires and a hole in her heart._

It was almost poetic _, she thought as another howl sounded, this one closer than before,_ that she die in the arms of a vampire.

 _One niggling thought wouldn't leave her mind, even as his lips touched her neck._

" _What kind of king doesn't care about the suffering of his people?"_

 _Teeth pierced the side of her neck, and Bella cried out from the sharp pain. The edges of her vision grew fuzzy, and she belatedly wondered how he was able to get so much blood out of her so fast._

 _Lights appeared in the corners of her eyes, and the world blurred for a moment, tilting sideways before straightening itself again. And the teeth tore themselves from her neck._

" _What on earth…" Laurent only just muttered the words before another howl sounded, this one almost reaching their position. His head snapped to the side, before taking another look in front of him Bella._

 _He seemed to deliberate for a moment, before gnashing his teeth together in frustration and taking off into the woods._

 _Bella barely noticed him leave, as the lights spread to swallow up the world around her. Her hands tingled, like she'd slept on them too long and the blood in her veins was just getting reacquainted with the room there. She could only spare a thought for the pain in her neck, slowly spreading like a fire inside her, before her knees gave out, and she tipped backward._

 _The ground rushed at her, and the world went white._

Bella dropped the fabric, and it hung loosely from the threads that still held intact.

"Fuck."


	2. Chapter 2

**Please leave reviews! They encourage me to write!**

 **I'm still getting used to writing, with this being my first fanfiction, so please excuse my wonky writing style. I'll answer any questions you have that I can about the story or anything else if you leave them in your reviews.**

 **OOOOOO**

Bella found herself wandering toward the tree line as she pondered recent events.

Laurent had turned her. Unintentionally, maybe, but Bella had been given what she'd been asking for since she first started things with Edward.

Immortality. A chance to stay forever young and beautiful with the man of her dreams.

Bella's thoughts spiraled inward, her hands dragging along the rough bark of the first tree as she passed. The usual ache in her chest that she felt when she thought of Edward was still there, but it almost seemed… _less,_ somehow. Like she had healed a part of the festering wound that had taken up the space where her heart once rested. Maybe being turned into a vampire had given her some semblance of comfort, now that her vampires were gone. Still, even if it hurt a little less, the hollowness inside her was impossible to ignore.

Mentally turning away from that depressing line of thought, Bella noticed a small path, worn down by years of foot traffic to and from the little cliffside that she had woken up on. She couldn't really blame the mysterious travelers. It was a hell of a view. She quickly made her way over to the path. As she followed the winding dirt trail, Bella wondered where it could possibly lead. She'd woken up, disoriented and a vampire in the middle of nowhere, and was still completely stumped as to how she could have gotten there.

Did Laurent come back to finish the job? Did he have a sudden change of heart when he saw her, lying there on the forest floor writhing in pain and already in the process of turning?

Carlisle had mentioned once that makers and their children have a strong bond that connects them to each other. Maybe that bond had already started to form.

Did he pick up her spasming body and take her to some sort of private jet that flew her to this sunny paradise so that she might have some comfort when she woke up in her strange new body? Did he have to gag her on the plane to cover up her screams?

Bella recalled the aura of sadistic glee that had oozed from Laurent as he spoke of killing her, and crossed that possibility of her metaphorical list. The look on his face when he'd pulled away from her gave her pause, though. When he'd turned toward the trees—toward the sound of that howling—genuine _fear_ had taken him over. Whatever the source of that sound was, it scared a vampire enough to make him stop mid-feed and run so fast that Bella could imagine a cartoon afterimage standing in his vacated place.

Bella hoped to god she never had to meet it.

That aside, Bella was back to square one. She just hoped that wherever this path led, she would find someone who could tell her which direction to the nearest airport, or at least where the hell she was.

Bella saw an opening in the trees up ahead, and darted forward in excitement, reaching it in a couple seconds as opposed to the half minute she had expected. She halted her pace at the edge of the path just before she exited the safety of cover in the trees. The clearing opened up to reveal what looked to be a small log cabin.

Bella could hear repetitive 'thumps' coming from inside, and she found herself drawn toward the source of those enchanting sounds. Her feet made no sound on the soft moss that surrounded the cabin, leaving no footprints in their wake to mark the passage of a predator closing in on its prey.

Her black eyes remained fixed on the window before her, seeing no glass, nor screen, to hinder her view. As she crept up to the opening, crouched and graceful, Bella could determine three separate sources of the sound inside the house. One racing fast, frantic and small. One thumping along regularly at an even pace. The third seemed almost sluggish, falling behind the other two with brief bursts of speed, like it was trying to catch up, but it couldn't help but fall behind.

Peeking over the ledge into the house, Bella discovered the source of the sounds.

Two people stay low to the ground inside a one-room cabin, huddled around a third. At the far end, an older man—the grey sprinkled throughout his hair—lay on some sort of furry blanket on the ground, his hair sticking to his face with his sweat. Next to him sat a younger man, probably nearing his mid-twenties, that faced away from the window. All Bella could see of him was his long dark hair that was pulled back and tied low on his head by some sort of string. Even held back, his hair reached far down his back. The third sat at the older man's feet, huddled into the blanket that was tossed over him and looking as small as a person can.

The girl was maybe five years old, but the look in her eyes betrayed the old soul that hid inside. Her black hair matched the boy's in color, though hers was much shorter, having not had the years to grow it past her shoulders. She was wrapped up in a long dress that reminded Bella of a bed sheet and reached past her ankles to tangle her feet from her position on the floor. Bella trailed her eyes back to her face—much too thin for a child her age—to see that her presence had gone unnoticed by those deep blue eyes that stared worriedly at the man.

Bella couldn't seem to look away from the child, her small, adorable hands clutching at her dress, but some of her attention was pulled back to the man as he started to have a coughing fit. The boy lunged forward with a cloth in his hand and helped the man hold it to his mouth until the fit ended. Even as he pulled it away, Bella could smell it. The man had coughed up blood.

Bella held her breath.

She sunk down to the ground, her back pressed against the wood of the cabin and the window just above her head allowing the smell to waft down to her. The burn from earlier had returned with a vengeance, and saliva pooled in her mouth. No, not saliva, _venom._ She swallowed, trying to soothe the burn, but it only waned for a second before flaming back up.

She was _hungry._

Even in her state of teetering control, Bella felt for this little family. Their father didn't seem like he was going to get better any time soon. With increasing concern, Bella recognized the sluggish thumping as the sound of his heartbeat. It was falling behind. Giving up.

She didn't know what to do. Her emotions were at war with what she knew to be the more logical choice. Bella was just a newborn, she couldn't control her bloodlust enough to change a human, and more than that, neither would the man be able to once he was turned. Add to that the fact that she'd be exposing herself to a bunch of humans, when she'd been told quite clearly that if there was one rule that the Volturi did enforce, it was that one.

But to hell with the Volturi.

Bella had meant what she'd said earlier to Laurent, even if she'd been a little bit stressed at the time. A government that rules just for the sake of ruling isn't one she subscribes to. Bella had never been able to just sit around and watch someone suffer. If there was anything she could do, she would do it. And Bella could save that man.

No sooner had she made her decision when a sharp voice began speaking. Bella couldn't recognize the language. It was all just Greek to her. Wait…was that actually Greek? Shifting from her position on the ground to kneel in front of the window, Bella took in the sight of the younger man yelling in that foreign language to the little girl who, up until this point, had remained silent. Now, however, tears rolled down her face as she scooped up the excess length her dress and ran for the door.

No sooner had the door shut behind her did the younger man let a small grin take over his face. Bella watched, more confused than anything, as the boy peered down at the man before standing and making his way to the left side of the house. He began to search through the pile of cloth there, digging deeper and deeper until he got an excited gleam to his eyes as he pulled out a bundle that had been hidden inside.

Bella was just waiting for this man to leave the house for a bit, maybe take off after his sister, before she could sneak in and grab the man on the floor. She would give him a choice, when it came down to it. She could pretend to be some sort of hallucination and give him the choice of immortality as a vampire, or the death that was rapidly creeping up on him. Sick people have hallucinations all the time when their dying, right?

The boy went back to his position by the man's side, laying the bundle down next to him and slowly beginning to unwrap it. From within, he retrieved something that looked almost like a pipe, but something about it was strange.

The boy turned back to the man, and Bella couldn't see what he was doing anymore, but a sudden cloud of smoke appeared around the man's head from his prone position, and he was thrown into another coughing fit. Blood was flying out of his mouth with spittle as more and more smoke was released onto his head, and Bella started to panic.

What was going on? Was this some kind of alternative healing method, or something? Was the boy _trying_ to kill him?

Bella heard the patter of small feet approaching the cabin again, and sighed with relief as the little girl called back to her brother. She doesn't know why she felt so worried about her, but little girls just should go running off into the woods by themselves. Hadn't these people ever heard of _Little Red Riding Hood?_

While Bella might have been relieved to hear the girl returning, it was clear that the boy was definitely not. As soon as the girl shouted, the boy turned toward the door with a panicked look on his face. He started shoving everything back into the bundle roughly, before wrapping it back up and taking it back to its hiding spot into the large pile in the corner of the room. He quickly rushed back to the man's side, just in time for the door to open and the girl came stomping back in, tearful as when she left. She looked at her brother for a moment, before he opened his arms and she fell into them, clutching at him like a lifeline. The boy looked down at the girl with a soft look on his face, that slowly started to morph, and Bella's expression morphed similarly.

 _Oh my god._ Bella thought with dawning horror as a smirk played out on his face. _He is trying to kill him._

Bella didn't have much time, then. She needed to get into that house, and now, consequences be damned. She could take the wrath of the Volturi to save that man and that innocent little girl from that twisted kid.

The edges of her vision blurred.

 _What the hell? Vampires can't get bad eyesight right?_

Her hands started to tingle, and it slowly spread up her arms as the world tilted for a moment, before setting itself right again.

 _What is going on?! I don't have time for this!_

Bella could hear the man's heart slowing down even further, and lurched forward to grab the ledge, wanting to pull herself through the opening and save him before it was too late, but she couldn't move. She could only watch, feeling simultaneously numb and tingly, as the boy turned back to look at the little girl in his arms, his face now almost fully facing Bella.

 _Strange._ Bella thought in a detached sort of way. _He kind of looks familiar._

And the world went white.

OOOOOO

Bella stepped forward into the clearing.

That's the best way she could describe it. She had been standing at the window, ready to burst in and scare the living shit out of everyone there, and then her hands started to tingle and she stepped into the clearing. Like it was all some crazy dream, or hallucination.

Bella stood there for a moment, completely overwhelmed by the last few hours. Was that some kind of vision? Did she see the future, like Alice? If she did, can she go find that family and save those two from that creepy kid? Bella dismissed this almost immediately. Alice had told her a lot about her visions, due to Bella's constant questions—who could blame her? Seeing the future is so _cool_ —and Alice doesn't live through them like she'd there. She doesn't smell salt and fish when her vision is at the ocean, and she can't move around in them like Bella did.

Then what the hell was it? She had been in the meadow with Laurent, he bit her, then she was in Greece? Bella's pretty sure that's the language they had been speaking in. Then she's back off to the meadow the second she want to interfere? Did she fucking _teleport?!_

Bella looked around the meadow, tuning her ears to the forest around her. Nothing. Laurent was long gone, and that thing that scared him off went with him. Can't exactly ask him any questions, then.

Suddenly, a loud ringing sound erupted in her ears, and Bella winced from the volume. She tried to discern where the awful noise was coming from, and recalled that she'd had her phone with her when she'd hiked up here. Gently reaching into her back pocket, Bella pulled out her still ringing phone, and stared at the screen with a blank look on her face.

 _Charlie._

Caller ID had never been so useful as it was at that moment, and Bella didn't know which this would go. She could answer the phone, deal with Charlie's undoubtedly righteous anger, try to explain what happened to her in a way that let her say her goodbyes without him knowing about vampires, or putting his life at risk. Or, she could ignore it, ditch the phone, and start looking for some answers, never speaking to her father again and leaving him with the impression of a zombie-like daughter that probably went off into the woods to kill herself.

The phone kept ringing.

Bella pressed accept.

There was silence for a moment as she tried to figure out what she could say to him that could possibly set this right, but she didn't have long to think before he spoke.

"Bella?" he spoke hesitantly, like he was not expecting anyone to actually answer. "Bella, is—is this…Bella, is that you?" Words failed her as she heard her father sobbing over the line. "Bella, please. Kid if this is you, please answer me." He pleaded, and Bella couldn't take listening to her father break.

"Hey, Dad."

"Oh my god."

He didn't speak for a while after that, crying into the phone while Bella spoke as soothingly as she could to him to calm him down. When he'd finally stopped crying, he only said one thing in a broken, scratchy voice.

"Come home."

So she did.

OOOOOO

Bella didn't expect it to be an easy reunion, but the greeting she got as she opened the door nearly toppled her to the ground, even with her strength. Charlie refused to let go of her as they stood out on the front porch as the sun started to set, his tears soaking into her already blood-stained shirt. After a few minutes of this, he dragged her inside by her hand, and she had to remind herself to let him because she knew that if she didn't, he couldn't move her.

Oddly enough, Charlie's scent didn't appeal to Bella the same way her own blood did. He smelled nice, but not overpowering to the point of a loss of control. Bella had held him in her arms for at least 10 minutes out on their porch, and she had barely felt a tickle in her throat.

Charlie moved to occupy his favorite seat, and he motioned for Bella to sit on the couch. After a near full minute of silence, words started to pour out of him like they'd been a barely restrained river and the last thread that held it back got pulled away by the current.

"Where have you been, Bella?! It's been weeks! I'd had my guys down at the station setting up posters everywhere before those La Push boys came up and told me they'd found your jacket in the woods, torn apart like some wild animal had gotten you! We've been coming through the woods and we found tracks! Huge prints that led to where those boys found your jacke—is that _blood?!_ "

Charlie jumped up from his chair and ran toward her, grabbing at her torn shirt collar—even more evidence of what happened earlier having been real—and brought it up to his face. Or, more accurately, tried to before realizing she wasn't budging, then bent nearly in half at the waist to get closer.

"Bella, are you hurt? Is this your blood? Kid show me where you're and we can take you to a hospital. I know a little first aid myself to hold you over until we get there but—"

Once again he cut off mid sentence, but this time he was staring directly into her eyes. His gaze switched back and forth between them, seemingly searching for something, and it took Bella embarrassingly long to figure out what was going on.

"Dad, I can explain—"

"Why are your eyes _RED?!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Charlie's hands shot forward, grabbing both sides of Bella's face as he stared her down.

"Why are you so cold, Bells? What happened to you out there? Why was your jacket found all cut up?"

Bella shrunk further and further into the couch as he spat the questions out rapid-fire. The more he spoke, the more Bella wanted to physically become a part of the furniture to escape from this conversation. As touched as Bella was by her father's concern for her, there were certain questions she just didn't know how to answer.

"Why are you covered in blood? How have you survived in the woods this long by yourself? How did you get away from those animals? Have you even been eating?"

The reminder of food brought up her memories of that cabin. Of that delicious scent that emanated from that man on the ground. Bella could still smell his blood. Or maybe that was Bella's own blood. The proximity of the stained collar to her face allowed the scent to almost constantly fill her nose.

As Charlie continued on his attack, Bella was lost in her confusion. Edward had once told her that the newborns of their species had absolutely no control. They'd go around slaughtering whole villages in their bloodlust. Bella hadn't fed since she'd woken up, and here she was, with a human mere feet from her, and she hadn't lost control and attack him. That's not to say she didn't feel the burn in her throat or the urge to sink her teeth into something, because she did. It had been difficult to stop herself from slipping through that window and ending that man's suffering and her own thirst in one go, but she'd done it. Was she not a normal newborn? Maybe that should have been obvious, Bella thought, with the way her turning and consequential awakening had gone.

"—take you? If they did we can hunt the down and put them away for a very, very long time, Bells. You don't have to worry about that, I promise. You're not in any danger anymore. You're safe here."

It took a second for Bella to catch up to the point Charlie had gotten to in this one-sided conversation, but when she did, she was quick to put an end to that line of thought.

"What? No Ch-Dad. No one kidnapped me. I've just been…" Bella stumbled over an explanation that wouldn't leave her father with even more questions for her. "…finding myself?"

Charlie's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

"Finding yourself." he repeated flatly.

Internally wincing, Bella nodded. Charlie took a long look at her before, surprisingly, slumping back into his chair with a release of breath. He raised a hand, letting it drag down his face as the silence grew around them. He seemed to gather himself then, his shoulders pushing back and his eyes staring into her own.

"Bella, you know you can tell me anything, right?" He asked her in a steady voice. "If you're ever in any trouble, I can help you."

Bella's nod was much slower this time. She knew Charlie wouldn't just ignore this. There were too many changes and too much left unexplained for him to just drop the subject, so Bella gave him the best she could that would keep him safe.

"For right now," she spoke haltingly, keeping her eyes locked on his, "I'm ok. Things are a bit weird at the moment." She let out a small laugh, more a huff of air than anything. "I'm going through a bit of a transition, but I'm okay." She spoke more seriously. "I can't tell you everything, dad, and you can't ask too many questions or we really could get into a lot of trouble, but if things get really bad, I'll let you know. I promise."

His confusion was plain on his face, but he seemed to come to some kind of acceptance, letting out a deep sigh and closing his eyes before returning them back to her.

"Can I at least let your mom know that you're okay? She's been worried sick about you, kid."

Bella took a moment to think before responding. "Yeah, you can tell mom, but you can't tell anyone else dad. No one else in forks can know that I'm alive." He looked about to protest, but Bella pushed on. "Dad, look at me." She gestured to her eyes and the pale, now flawless skin that covered her body. "I'm not the same as I used to be. Some stuff happened—and I'm okay!" She rushed out at his renewed concerned look. "But I can't exactly go back to my old life. It's too complicated." She looked down at the stain in the carpet that Bella had long speculated to be beer. "I'm too complicated." She looked back up to her father. "I can't go back to school and pretend that things are all normal. Not when they are so obviously not. I can't have people asking too many questions, dad." She looked pleadingly into his eyes, and he once again gave her a silent nod in show of his acceptance.

"Alright. I… alright." He kept nodding as he stood back up, giving Bella the impression of a bobble-head. "Alright, I can do that." And with that, it seemed the conversation was over. Charlie made his way over to the phone on the counter, probably on his way to call Renée.

"Dad." She interrupted him, his hand hovering over the buttons. "Any chance _you_ could just talk to her while I wait upstairs in my room? I've got a lot to figure out and it's probably for the best if I—"

He stopped her with a small smile, the first one he'd shown her since she got back, and likely the first one he'd worn since she left.

"Not a chance, Bells."

OOOOOO

After hurricane Renée had blown through, Charlie started making arrangements for her funeral.

They'd decided, after a few vague explanations, that it was better if the world thought that Isabella Marie Swan had perished in an unfortunate animal attack. This gave Bella more freedom to roam while also protecting Charlie from the wrath of the Volturi. From the little that she knew of them, Bella didn't ever want to have to meet the rulers of the vampire world.

The next two days leading up to the funeral were awkward for Bella. Charlie obviously had a lot of questions, but he was trying to restrain himself. Every time he started getting to in-depth, Bella would fidget and give him some non-answer that left him with even more questions, so he decided to let it be for the moment in favor of planning. It would be a quiet affair. Or, at least as quiet as it could be with nearly a whole town in attendance. Charlie hadn't invited them, but he knew that everyone would come. Nothing much ever happened in this town, so a funeral would just be a form of entertainment for many that would show. Bella tried not to let that bother her.

It was while Charlie was making calls to invite people that it happened. He was on the phone with Billy Black, trying his best to sound like a mourning father while Bella sat on the stair case listening in.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Charlie." Bella must have heard that at least twelve times in the last few hours of phone calls, but something was off about it. The tone was too flat, almost fake. The Blacks had been long time friends to the Swan family, and this fake sympathy fell short of that feeling. It was almost like…

Bella's eyes widened. _Like he knew she was still alive._

Charlie said his goodbyes before calling the next person on the list, but Bella was already in action. Blurring upstairs to her room, Bella grabbed a hoodie and a large jacket to cover her up a bit. She also grabbed some sunglasses and a baseball cap right before she left. If it worked for celebrities…

Charlie ran back to the bottom of the stairs, slowing back to a human speed as she entered Charlie's line of sight. He looked confused at her new attire, and she tried to mime that she was going out for a bit. Her fumbling attempts to get the message across must have worked, at least a little, because Charlie's face smoothed out, and he gave a small nod to her while the woman on the other line continued to ramble about her own sob story rather than just accepting the invitation and mobbing on.

She was out the door before he turned back around.

OOOOOO

Bella was never known for her stealth, in life. She'd broken almost every bone in her body at some point, not due to some horrible incident, just her own clumsiness. She may have gained a certain degree of grace with her transformation, but the awkwardness of her human life lingered.

She had run to La Push, not wanting to risk anyone seeing her truck and connecting it back to her, but now she was wishing she had brought Charlie with her. Bella didn't know if she could find Billy Black's house without using the roads, but she couldn't risk being seen by someone she knew. There was only so much that sunglasses can do.

Bella pulled the cap down further, trying her best to disappear inside the hood of her jacket as she made her way down the road. She was glad she'd driven here so many times for family dinners when she was a kid, otherwise she'd never be able to find the way with her head down and eyes constantly scanning the road for anyone who might recognize her. Before too long, she'd found the long winding drive way that led to the Black's house, and, instead of starting down it, rushed over to the trees on the right side of the road and followed it at a bit of a distance.

It didn't take too long before she started smelling something foul. It was almost like wet dog, mixed with some kind of greasy oil, like fire starting fluid. It made Bella want to turn the other way, but she needed answers. She wouldn't be turned away by a bad smell.

By the time she reached the house, the pungent odor had nearly clogged her nose. It was overpowering in the area around the house, and something about it made Bella keep to the trees that surrounded the clearing around the house. She circled to the other side, her eyes scanning for some sign of life, before her ears caught the sound of a two heartbeats inside. One was much faster, almost like the one the girl had, but stronger—steadier. It was almost like this fast pace was it's normal speed. Bella could clearly count out each beat, and she wondered if she would always focus in on them. After a moment, Bella realized that the only reason she could so clearly distinguish the beating of that vital organ was the silence that permeated the house.

Billy and Jacob Black were sitting in complete silence in their home. There was no sound of the television playing the most recent football game. There was no sound of Jacob tinkering in the garage on whatever he had pulled from the junkyard recently. It was a pregnant kind of silence. Heavy with things neither could bring themselves to say, but rested just on the tip of their tongues. Bella could hear someone taking a deep breath before the voice of her friend broke the silence.

"This isn't right." Jacob Black spoke tightly.

Billy heaved a heavy sigh. "Jake, we can't—"

"No!" Jacob interrupted. "This isn't right, and you know it!" A sudden slamming sound accompanied his words, and Bella wondered if he'd broken the table with his fist.

"Charlie isn't permitted to know—" Billy tried.

"Why does it matter what he's 'permitted' to do." Jacob bit out in a scathing tone. "The council doesn't own us, dad. And this isn't right. He thinks his daughter is dead!"

"She could be for all we know." His father responded.

" _I_ know that she's not. And so do you! We got to the bloodsucker before he could finish draining her! Her smell was all over that meadow, and there was no time for him to hide a body. Wherever she is now, she's a vampire. And she needs our help." Jacob was almost shouting at this point.

Bella felt a surge of warmth from the words of her friend. She didn't know how exactly they knew about vampires, or how the hell 'they' had managed to kill Laurent, but even knowing what she was, Jacob was at least willing to help her. She heard a few moments of silence before the elder Black spoke again in a nearly pained voice.

"I know this isn't right, Jacob. I know. We let a teenage girl die on our watch, but—"

"She's not dead!" Jacob roared, and Bella was surprised at the strength behind it. When he spoke next, there was a low sort of growl accompanying his words. "She's a vampire. She's _not_ dead. We made a treaty with the Cullens, so we obviously recognized them as living creatures. Why can't we do the same for her?" When he received no response, Jacob continued. "I'm going to talk to Sam. We can expand our search for her beyond La Push now that the Cullens are gone." Before the elder Black could respond, Bella heard footsteps leading to the front door of the house.

She didn't give herself any time to think. Before she knew it, Bella was standing at the front door to the Black family home, just in time for it to swing open, revealing a harrowed looking Jacob. His eyes widened almost in slow motion to her. Even as Jacob took a deep breath and a staggered step in her direction, Billy Black was behind him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Jake, no!" Billy's expression was one of worry, not for the girl that had been presumed dead for weeks, but for his son, and it cemented in Bella's mind that he knew more about her kind than just their name. Jacob's hesitance granted Bella enough time to remove her glasses and hat, revealing her red eyes, and the man took a step back in response.

"Hey, Jake." Bella spoke softly, before her awkwardness from her human days kicked back in and she stretched her arms out in either direction. "Surprise! I'm not dead." Both men just watched her in a shocked silence, and Bella let out a forced laugh. "But, you apparently already knew that." Jacob was still staring at her in an overwhelmed daze, but Billy took that moment to gently but firmly push his way in front of him.

"Bella. How have you been?" Her father's best friend spoke casually, but with a note of caution in his voice, and the normality of his words drew a startled laugh from her that shook Jacob from his stupor.

"I've been better. You?" Bella reciprocated the casual tone, though her's was slightly more humored than worried.

"Same." Billy actually gave her a smile. A very small one, and gone so fast that if Bella weren't a vampire she might have missed it, but a smile nonetheless. Bella returned the smile with one of her own, instinctually making sure not to show her teeth, and Jacob launched himself at her.

"Oh my god, Bella!" The massive hulk of a man wrapped his arms around her, lifting her in the air before turning around and bringing her into the house without letting her down.

"Jake!" Bella laughed. "I'm pretty sure you have to actually invite a vampire into your house."

Jacob's responding laugh was almost more of a startles gurgle. After it started, he couldn't get it to stop, dropping her down onto the couch while he sat in a chair across from her, holding his sides as his laughter bounced off the walls.

"Well, I mean, it wasn't that funny, but I'll take it after the day I've had." Bella mumbled. She could her the wheels of Billy's chair rolling across the floor to them, and he stopped next to Jacob, still staring at her warily. He started to open his mouth, but Bella rushed her words out. "And you don't have to worry about Charlie, he already knows."

Jacob's laughter cut out. Billy looked at her fearfully, and she could tell that he had taken her words differently than she meant them, so she continued on. "I mean, he doesn't _know_ know, you know? Like, he knows I'm alive, but not that I'm all…vampirey. Is that a word? I don't think it's a word. But yeah, anyway, I ended up going home first thing when I got back, and he was freaked out about me having been gone for weeks, which was news to me but we'll get back to that. So, he asked what had happened and I told him some stupid excuse about 'finding myself' like some kind of high school dropout or something. Oh, god. I can't go back to school. I'm a high school dropout!" Bella rambled on, leaving both men staring at her, one in relieved amusement, and the other blankly, like Billy just couldn't believe that a vampire was capable of being nervous. Or maybe he was still stuck on the whole 'Bella's a vampire now' thing. Either way, she was cut short when he started talking.

"Bella, I have to ask. I know we've been friends with you and your family since long before you kids were even born, but I have a duty to uphold, so I need you to tell me." Billy leaned toward her in his chair, his eyes stony, and Bella had never thought she could be afraid of a man in a wheelchair, especially as a vampire, but she shrunk back into the couch with the weight of his stare.

"Have you killed anyone?"

 **OOOOOO**

 **Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I've got a lot planned, and I hope I can keep up with the updating. This is a story I've wanted to write for a while. Let me know what you think!**

 **To everyone that commented: Thank you so much! I love the reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

Bella's eyes grew wide as the words stuttered from her unsettled lips. "What? No!" She looked between the two men across from her. "I haven't even fed yet!"

Billy was the one sporting wide eyes after her announcement. Before he boomed out, "What!? It's been two weeks! You've just been turned! You can't have gone this long without feeding?!"

"Well, that's actually one of those things I wanted to talk to you about. It hasn't actually been two weeks for me? More like a day, maybe a day and a half. Well, I guess technically if you add the time it took for me to turn it's been like four days, max." Bella answered as she dragged a pillow over to hug against her chest. Both men looked confused, so she continued. "It's a bit confusing, but I haven't been here that long. I…was somewhere else?"

Billy looked interested. "You mentioned that before, that the first thing you did when you 'got back' was head home to Charlie."

"Yeah. I didn't exactly know where else to go. I guess maybe I should have stayed in the woods for a bit—tried to hunt some animals or something, but I was scared and alone in the middle of the woods after dealing with a bit of a traumatic event," Bella spoke sarcastically, not aiming it at the men in front of her, but just at her situation in general, "so I went to find my dad."

"But where did you go?" Jake finally contributed to the conversation, and when Bella looked back at him, he was staring at the red of her eyes. He didn't exactly look scared, or even wary, it was like he was just trying to get used to the change. It was a pretty big transformation after all.

"I don't exactly know." Bella answered. "I think…Greece?"

"Greece?!" Jacob shouted at the exact moment Billy questioned, "You think?"

"Well," Bella started, feeling like she was a kid getting scolded, "I _did_ just get turned into a vampire, and only got saved last second by something scaring off Laurent, so…" She spoke defensively, "pardon me for being a bit disoriented. Speaking of, what do you mean _you_ killed the vampire? That's what you said earlier, right Jacob? How the hell could you kill a vampire? No offence, but you're not exactly an even match for one." She stopped when Jake gave a small grin.

"You'd be surprised how even a match it would be." Jacob said confidently. When she merely gave him a questioning 'go on' look in response, Jacob cast a glance at his father then returned her look. "I told you the legends, Bella. Do you remember?"

Bella remembered her awkward attempts at flirting to try and get him to reveal something about the Cullens. "Yeah, you called vampires Cold Ones. What does that have to do with this?"

"Do you remember the rest of the legends? About what happened when the Cold Ones attacked our tribe?" He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, staring her down.

"Uh, I think you said that one of the men turned into some kind of…." Bella stared at Jacob as she trailed off. The longer the staring match continued, the lower her jaw dropped, and the wider his smile grew. "No. No fucking way. You are not some kind of bad ass werewolf, Jacob Black. I have seen you eat mud."

His grin had been reaching face-splitting potential before her last comment, then it dropped and he looked at her, wounded. "Hey! I was like 6!"

Billy chuckled to his side, looking at his son fondly. "You were 12."

Jacob mumbled something under his breath about 'traitorous old men' before turning back to her. "The pack, yes the pack of _werewolves_ Bella, caught the scent of a bloodsucker wandering Forks." His eyes turned sad. "We didn't know he was after you, Bells. I'm so sorry. We were running towards the source of the smell as fast as we could, but we just…" He turned away. "…we were too slow."

Bella, having just caught up to what he was saying after the bombshell he had dropped on her, responded. "What? Oh, it's fine. Do you change every full moon?" She leaned forward in interest.

Jacob looked nonplussed. "Do we—no. We can shift whenever we want."

"How are you werewolves if you don't shift with the full moon. That's like the _main_ werewolf thing."

"Why are you so chill about this? You literally got attacked by a vampire—"

"Again."

"Right, again—wait, what?"

"It's been a long year."

They looked at her, uncomprehending for a moment. How could a person survive not just one, but two vampire attacks? Billy opened his mouth to speak, but Bella whipped her head toward the side as the sound of heavy footfalls registered. Something was coming—multiple somethings—and fast.

Without turning back to look at them, Bella asked. "Those not-werewolf friends of yours, did you invite them over?"

When she turned to take in their reactions, Jacob leapt to his feet. He wasn't quite as fast as her, but he reached the door faster than Billy could even say 'shit'. He flung the door open, and raced out to meet an honest to god _pack_ of giant supernatural wolves. One of the wolves went back into the forest, and a few seconds later Sam Uley was walking up to Jacob, shirtless and in jean shorts in 60-degree weather.

"Sam." Jacob spoke, almost deferentially.

"Jacob." Sam returned. "Jared and Paul were on patrol when they caught a scent in the wind. There's another bloodsucker on the loose. We tracked it back here."

"About that," Jacob began, "I was just about to call you to let you know—"

It happened so fast that even Bella had a hard time keeping up. One second, she was walking up to the front door, heading out cautiously to meet with Jacob's 'pack', and the next second a snarling wolf was charging her.

"Paul, no!" Bella could hear Jacob distantly. She was too focused on the wolf in front of her. It was moving almost in slow motion. One paw hit the ground, and her vision went a little fuzzy. The other followed, and she saw everything sideways. The back paws followed, and the wolf leapt into the air, closing the distance between its teeth and her throat.

Everyone there, wolf and not, watched as for just a second, it looked like Bella Swan glitched. Her body there, then gone, then there again faster than they could blink. Then, just as suddenly as before, she was gone, and the wolf hit the side of the house with a resounding 'thud'.

OOOOOO

Bella regained her vision just as the sun winked out of the sky. She hadn't experienced night as a vampire yet, and she was both surprised and excited to realize how easy it was for her to see and maneuver in the dark. She had ended up in an alley, strange buildings made of wood with thatch roofs were on either side of her, and the sounds coming from within informed Bella of the sleeping inhabitants inside.

The burning in her throat was a near constant sensation, now. During their talks of newborns, the Cullens always said that newborns had to feed almost immediately after being turned, what with their bloodthirst being at an all-time high. After about ten years or so of feeding every day, they could get it down to once a week or even once a month if they had better control. It had apparently been weeks since Bella was turned, despite her only feeling present for a small fraction of it. She was pushing the limits of her self-control, and she was worried she would snap before too long if she didn't find some fucking chipmunk or something, and fast.

Footsteps making their way toward her snap Bella out of her thoughts. She needed to pay more attention, or her newly acquired small attention span was going to get her in serious trouble. Bella attached herself to the side of the building, doing her best to hide in the shadows there. After a moment, she sees the form of a woman run past, her arms wrapped around herself, looking almost like a hug. She could see her breath in the cold air as she panted, her exhaustion and plain in her shaking legs, yet she pushed on. Bella only caught a glimpse of her face before she past the next building, but the reason for her perseverance became obvious when she caught the look on her face.

 _Fear._

The woman was running from something.

What she was running from soon became apparent as many more figures ran past Bella's little alley just a moment later. After they passed, Bella moved to the entrance of the alley, staring after their shadows as they got farther and farther away. She started slinking after them in the shadows, feeling concern for this mysterious woman. It was easy to catch up—the pace they had set was practically a brisk walk for a vampire—and she trailed them for some time, taking in their strange appearances.

The men chasing the woman were all wearing dresses. They were short, coming up past their knees, and the color ranged from a dirt brown to a gray-brown mixture. The one in the front was wearing some kind of strappy sandals, but the two following him were both barefoot.

The woman running in front was wearing another one of those strange bedsheet dresses that Bella had seen earlier on that little girl, although this one seemed much fancier. The bottom of the white cloth was lined with purple, and the belt that ran around her waist glinted gold in the light of the torches that were few and far between, lining the sides of the houses. In her arms, a squirming bundle of white and purple cloth was protected from the biting air. _A baby._

The woman took a sudden turn, sprinting down another alley, likely hoping to fool her pursuers. It appeared as though her luck had run out, however, as the man at the front yelled out in that strange Greek-sounding language and they all hightailed it into the alley after her.

Bella slowed her pace, coming up to the mouth of the alley, when a piercing scream filled the air, followed by a scent she had just begun to grow familiar, and wary, of. _Blood._

Bella's eyes went black with hunger, and she blurred into the alley. The three men were surrounding the woman, the one in front carrying a small club, now tinged red. The two men around him were leering at the woman, saying something that must've been some kind of encouragement to the man, because he backed her into a wall, his hands shoving her arms, and raised his club into the air once more. The baby let out a small cry.

The last lingering threads of Bella's control snapped, and before she knew it, she had the leading man up against the side of the house. Her teeth sunk into his throat, and Bella's eyes rolled back as the hot liquid gushed into her mouth. It was _delicious._ And gone far too soon. As soon as the last drop touched her tongue, Bella dropped the man, and turned to the other two that were watching her in shock as the woman backed farther down the alley.

Bella launched at the second one, and the second taste proved to be just as mouthwatering as the first. She let out a moan that broke the third man from his paralyzed state, and he screamed into the night air. The second man ran dry, and Bella's eyes whipped over to the third man, now running back toward the entrance of the alley. He made it about 2 feet before her was on the ground, a bloodthirsty creature perched above him. Her black eyes bored into his own enlarged ones, before she was gone from his field of view. Soon, the only thing in his eyes was the reflection of the moon overhead, lighting his unmoving body.

Bella raised from her position on the ground, stretching on her toes and letting her head fall back in satisfaction. The moonlight caressed her body, framing her long lashes and emphasizing her cheekbones. A muffled gasp from her right brought Bella's half-lidded eyes to the woman that was pressing herself into the wall behind her, as far from the scene as she could get. Bella's eyes roved over her, taking in her quivering form and her startling brown eyes and dark hair, before a glint on the ground that turned out to be some sort of expertly crafted necklace entranced Bella.

Bella reached down, moving languidly in her sated state, and picked up the piece of jewelry, turning it over in her hands as the gold and silver caught the light. The baby, silent until this point, let out another small cry, and Bella's vision began to blur.

She looked over to the woman, then, keeping eye contact as she felt a tugging in her navel, and a tingling in her arms. The last thought that went through her head was that she was glad that, this time, she'd managed to save someone, and she smiled serenely at the woman before vanishing before her eyes.

OOOOOO

Bella was sure this time that it wasn't just a vision. She hadn't completely ruled it out before, but ending up in front of Billy Black's house covered in blood and holding a gold necklace crossed that possibility off the list.

It really was a beautiful piece of jewelry, Bella thought. On the front, there was a beautiful picture of some kind of bird posed in mid-flight. Flipping it over, Bella found an inscription on the back in some language she couldn't read. It looked almost like latin. Making her mind up to check in out it later, she pulled the long necklace over her head, tucking it in under her shirt before turning to the house.

No sounds came from within, not even a heartbeat, so Bella turned on her heel and rushed back toward her own home, intent on laying in her bed all night trying to figure out what the fuck was happening to her. She knew she should probably be more upset about what had just happened. She had just murdered three men! She had drained them of their blood in a matter of moments, and she had _liked_ it. But Bella couldn't bring herself to be too upset about it. She knew that if those men had been just random people taking a stroll home, she would have felt an enormous weight at the mere thought of taking their lives, but they weren't. Those men were going to hurt that woman and her baby, possibly even kill them!

Bella felt no remorse in her actions, and she spared them no pity.

The reception she received when she reached her house was not exactly what she expected. 5 shirtless men were sitting in her yard. They were all surrounding one car, talking in quiet voices, but when they saw her they went silent. Bella could recognize Paul Lahote, the man who had apparently attacked her in wolf form, leaning against the side of the car and gaping at her. She met their wide-eyed stares with a smirk of her own. She didn't know much more about what had happened than they did, but they didn't have to know that. All they knew is that she disappeared right under their noses without them landing a single scratch. 'Badass werewolf protectors' her ass.

Inside the house was a bit less populated, but only a bit. There were only two shirtless men in the living room, Sam and Jake. Billy was pulled up in front of the couch with Charlie staring at him blankly.

"Charlie, she really is gone this time. I know you saw her recently, but she—"

Charlie's eyes widened as they followed her approach into the room.

"Bells!" He leapt from the couch, running over to her and grabbing her by her arms as he looked her over. "Billy just came over saying you visited him? They told me about these legends they have down on the reservation. Is it really true? Are you—how in the _hell_ are you covered in even _more_ blood than last time?!"

Bella let out a strained laugh. "It's a funny story. Well, no it's not particularly funny, at all, but it's complicated. Which is what I meant when I said 'funny'. You know, like funny-strange not funny-humorous." Taking in their bemused expressions, she continued. "Anyway, so they told you everything then?" Charlie nodded, his eyes going wider at her confirmation in the Quileute legends that the men had been telling him since they had arrived. "Well, so yes. I'm a vampire now."

Charlie nodded numbly. "Huh. Neat."

Bella smiled at his words. "Right, and it gets even more complicated. So I teleported, again."

He just stared at her. "You what now?"

Jake took that moment to remind her of the other occupants of the room. "Is that what that was? I swear Bells, one second I was worried that Paul was gonna tear you apart, then next, 'poof'! Did you end up in Greece again? How the hell can you teleport anyway? How does that work? Is it like how the priss could read minds?"

Bella tried not to flinch at the mention of _him_ , albeit a mention that Bella almost laughed at.

"It's a bit complicated. I think I was in Greece. The people were wearing togas and everything."

You could hear a pin drop after she made that announcement. After a few seconds of awkward silence, she pressed on.

"Yeah, so there's that. Which is cool, but I was already kinda stressed about the whole 'vampire thing' so this just added a whole unnecessary layer of stress to that pile. Also, I killed three guys."

 **OOOOOO**

 **Hey guys! Wow, I didn't expect that many of you to read this fic. Not many people out there specifically shipping Bella and the Queens, so I kinda thought this would be a side project that would flop, but there are already over 2,000 views for this fic.**

 **I've got a lot of ideas for the future, and the next few chapters are all already planned out, so hang in there! I promise I'll get to the romance! I've always been more of a tension over rushed action girl myself.**

 **Thank you again for reading. And I always love reviews! They motivate me to keep writing!**


	5. Chapter 5

The men in the room sucked in a shocked breath, and Bella could see the denial plain on Jake's face, as well as the condemnation on Sam's and Billy's.

"Okay, wait! Before you yell at me and try to burn me at the stake! They were really bad dudes." They looked disbelieving so she elaborated. "When I 'woke up' I was in an alleyway. I watched as this woman ran by with a baby in her arms, and these three guys were chasing after her in toga-looking things—"

"Tunics." Jake interrupted.

She stared at him. "Right. Tunics. Anyway, so these guys in tunics ran after her and cornered her in another alley. They backed her into a wall and one of them had hit her with a stick! She was bleeding from her head and trying to protect her baby. They were all laughing, the creeps, and when he moved to hit her again, I just…lost it."

Billy Black gazed up at her with a look in his eyes that took her a moment to place, and when it did Bella's own face scrunched up. He was _grieving_. He hadn't really considered her dead until this moment, Bella realized. Until this moment where she proved herself to be a killer.

"Good."

Everyone turned to Sam in shock, even Bella, as the words registered. Billy was quick to question him.

"You can't possibly mean that, Sam. Bella _killed_ those men—"

"Monsters." Sam's eyes hardened as he glared down at Billy. "Bella killed those monsters to _protect_ innocent lives. A woman and a _baby,_ Billy. Isn't that that whole point of us?" He gestured between him and Jake. "To help the innocent? To protect those who cannot protect themselves?" Sam stood firm.

A hand clamping down on her shoulder made Bella turn back to her father as he addressed Billy.

"My kid would never hurt an innocent person, Billy. You've known her since she was a little girl. You know that. If she killed those men, then they deserved to die. My kid isn't a monster, Billy, she'd a hero." He turned to look at her when he said that, and Bella was touched. Her eyes filled with tears that she knew would never spill over, and she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. "Easy, Bells." Came Charlie's gasping response, and Bella released him immediately, mouthing 'sorry'.

A wave of relief seemed to wash over the room, and with it, the stress of the day was taking its toll. Sam turned to Bella and Charlie.

"Now, if you two don't mind," he began, "I think this has been a pretty hectic day for all of us. I think it's about time for us to be getting home. A few of the boys outside have been up for a while now, since they had been on patrol when all of this started, and they could really use some rest."

Charlie nodded to him. "Sounds like a good idea. I could get a bit of shut-eye myself." He paused. "And thank you, all of you, for coming over to explain things to me." He ushered the men to the door, and Bella and Charlie waved Billy and Jake off in their car, while the rest of the boys disappeared into the woods. "Alright." He turned to Bella. "Explain. Everything from the top. They told me about the whole vampire thing, and from what I can gather, that's what the Cullens were. Did they turn you into this?"

With a deep sigh, Bella gestured Charlie to sit down and prepared herself for a long night of over-protective father lectures.

OOOOOO

To Bella's surprise, she hadn't received any lectures that night. Mostly, there was just angry swearing on Charlie's part, especially when she went over the details of her birthday and the subsequent withdrawal of the Cullens.

"That _fucking_ man-child thought that he could take my daughter into the middle of the woods and tell her she wasn't good for him?! After everything that entire _goddamn_ family put you through, they have the _fucking_ gall to just up and leave? And with this psychotic Victoria _bitch_ after you? I swear the next time I see that big-headed _twat_ I'm gonna cut his manhood off. He obviously doesn't need it." After his rant, Charlie, still breathing heavily and red-faced, reached into his wallet and put a 5-dollar bill in the swear jar on the counter. He saw her watching and explained. "Just because I swear, doesn't mean it's okay. Do as I say, not as I do."

Bella tried not to mention that she had literally just murdered three human beings and nodded seriously in response.

Charlie headed to bed soon after that, and Bella went up into her room and booted up her computer. She had a theory, a crazy theory sure, but a theory nonetheless, and she needed to at the very least disprove it. After taking a very long, very thorough shower, Bella stared at the necklace she wore, dangling between her breasts.

 _Colligavit nemo. Cedo nulli._

It took some google translating, and then some extra researching because google translate isn't always the most reliable, for Bella to get the translation. She was right, it had been Latin. _No one has bound me. I yield to no one._ Bella gently traced the words engraved in the precious metal. The necklace may not have belonged to Bella, but she identified with the words more than she cared to admit. As she flipped it over to try and figure out what type of bird it was in hoped of narrowing down a location or something, Bella saw even more words hidden under the wings of the bird.

 _Aude aliquid dignum._

 _Dare something worthy._

It almost seemed like some kind of Family crest, complete with a motto. She spent the next hours until daylight researching the words, as well as the bird on the front of the necklace, but all she found out was that the bird was a Buzzard-Hawk and that the species was sacred to Artemis—Ancient Greek Goddess of the Hunt, and yes that's with a capital 'H'.

The sun peeked through the curtains to Bella's window, and she felt no closer to confirming or denying her suspicions. The togas. The strange language. The houses and seeming lack of electricity or any other kind of modern device.

There is just no way that Bella could have possibly traveled through time.

Charlie's alarm clock went off, rousing Bella from her thoughts, and she headed downstairs to start making some breakfast. She knew that if she didn't, he would just end up skipping or ordering something at that dinner that was slowly clogging his arteries. He tumbled into the kitchen just as she was scooping the last of the eggs onto his plate. She handed him the plate, with him grumbling a sleepy 'thanks kid' before following him out into the living room.

As Charlie ate, Bella stared out the window. It would be another one of many cloudy days in Forks, so it would be easier for her to get around if she kept her head down. Bella had already made some plans to try and see if the Cullens left behind anything that would help her get into contact with them at their house. She knew they left for whatever stupid reason, to 'protect her' or whatever—that turned out great—but she needed help now that she was a vampire.

She had just been changed, and she had no idea what was going on. Bella wanted to survive this, and to do that, she needed to get some more information about what she was, and the only way to do that was to talk to the Cullens.

"Bells."

Bella turned to see her father setting his fork down on his empty plate. "I gotta head into the station today. I'm going to request a bit of time off, just so we can get everything figure out, you know? I've got the 'funeral' tomorrow, so I can just say I need time to grieve, and they'll let me be for a bit."

Bella was shaking her head before he had even finished speaking. "You can't quit. Not because of me. You love your job, and just because some asshole decided to mess with my life, it doesn't mean—"

"Kid! Kid calm down." Charlie interrupted. "I'm not quitting. I'm just asking for the rest of the week off." He smiled at her. "I do love my job, but it would seem either very suspicious, or very unhealthy if I went into work the next morning after your funeral all fine and dandy like nothing was wrong."

Bella let out the breath that she had been holding when she was interrupted. "Right. Yeah, right, of course."

He chuckled a bit at her before getting up to rinse his dish and put it in the dishwasher.

"Don't you want something to eat?" He questioned, before freezing and turning back to look at her.

Bella raised an eyebrow. "No thanks, I'm stuffed." She smirked as a blush took over his face, reminiscent of her old near-permanent blush.

"Sorry. That's gonna take some getting used to." Charlie rubbed the back of his neck, and Bella tried to school her amused expression into an understanding one as she nodded. "So," he pushed past his blunder, "what are you doing today?"

"I'm thinking I should head over to the Cullens' old house." She could see his objections rising, so she quickly explained. "I need to get more information about what I am. I know that the wolves in La Push have some information, but they are the 'sworn enemies' or whatever of my kind, so most of their legends are heavily biased. I'm just looking for some guidance, and the only ones who could give me that guidance are the Cullens." His frown spoke volumes, and she sighed. "I don't really want to see them right now either, dad. I've just been getting my life back to some kind of normal, and then this shit happens. I'm not going to just forgive them and go back to how things were, but I do need their help."

Charlie clenched his jaw, staring off into space for a moment. Eventually, he sucked in a large breath before deflating. "I know, kid. Just," he paused, looking into her eyes searchingly, "don't let them hurt you again. You deserve so much better than those assholes, you know that?"

Bella smiled at her father, touched and teary eyed, and nodded.

"Alright. You be careful kid. Everyone in town thinks you're dead, so showing up suddenly with red eyes might cause a bit of a stir. I can only imagine what that Mrs. Newton would say." A slow smile crept over him, and he seemed to repress a chuckle. "Actually, if you want to swing by her house and give her a scare, I wouldn't be entirely opposed."

"Dad!" Bella admonished him, failing to keep the smile off her face.

"I'm sorry, Bells, but think about it! That woman has been up in everyone's faces about 'that devil worshipping Cullen family' ever since Dr. Cullen denied her eloquent request for his 'healing touch'. Imagine if you showed up all red-eyed and fangy." He let out a small laugh. "Priceless."

Bella shook her head at her father, grinning all the while. "I'm not giving Mrs. Newton a heart attack, dad. Now go, you've got people to convince that you're sad." He put on an over exaggerated sad pout. "Exactly. Work it." He just chuckled and grabbed his keys, waving to her as he pulled down the drive way, and Bella went upstairs to grab another huge coat that she had borrowed from Phil when she first came to Forks. She put it on over her hoodie, pulling the hood up over her head and the glasses were back on her face as she shoved her phone in her pocket and headed out the door.

OOOOOO

Bella made it as far as the start of the excessively long driveway that leads to their house before she stopped.

Bella stared down the road – so far from any other sentient life that it's nearly impossible to find if you don't know what you're looking for – and she held her breath. It had been months since she'd been here, and for good reason. Bella couldn't bring herself to see even a remnant of the family that left her if they weren't coming for her themselves. Why wallow in the fact that she had meant so little to them? Why bear that pain?

She cast her eyes down the shrouded path, illogically waiting for a silver Volvo to tear down the road toward her. She knew they weren't at the end of the trail. That _he_ wasn't. But the possibility still made her heart give phantom beats in her chest at the ache of the wish.

With one last moment to gather herself, Bella steeled her nerves and took the first step down the road.

Her phone rang.

A rush of air left her lips as the breath she'd been holding was released, and Bella faltered back the singular step that she'd taken. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and the caller ID read _Jacob Black._ Yes, she put first and last names for all of her contacts, just in case. Bella jerked the phone up to her ear as she pressed the green 'accept call' button.

"Jake, now really isn't a good time." She tried not to be too terse with him, but she knew she didn't entirely succeed.

"You're telling me." He joked, but it was strained. "Bella, there's another vampire in Forks."

What was left of Bella's plan to search their house went up in flames at his announcement, and her mind started to race.

"Is – is it one of them?" Bella paused for a second, but Jacob could tell she was barely hanging on, so he replied immediately.

"No!" Jacob said. "No. It's not a Cullen." Bella couldn't tell if she was more relieved of disheartened by the news, but she didn't have too long to decide as the implications of the situation caught up to her.

"Victoria." Bella whispered into the phone.

"No." Jacob's answer confused her. There weren't exactly that many vampires living in the area, or many that would smell the wolves and stay for long enough to find the source, for that matter. "It's a bit strange, but she smells a bit like the leech that bit you." Jacob continued talking, but Bella's mind was racing as fast as her new vampire brain would let it. Hadn't Laurent been sent to the Cullens' cousins in Alaska? Laurent had said…Bella's eyes widened. "Sam's on her trail now, and she's heading north pretty fast, but we'll catch her soon and—"

"No!" Bella screeched, before wincing when her own voice reverberated in her ears. "Jacob, no. Tell them to stop."

"What? Bella, we almost have her."

"She's the Cullens' cousin. Her name is Irina, and she was dating Laurent, the vampire that bit me in the meadow. She's an animal drinker, Jacob. Call off the pack before they kill her and start a damn war!"

Jacob's startled inhalation was enough to know her words got through to him, but she continued. "Jacob, she has a coven in Alaska. If you are following her trail, you're running straight into a group of vampires who probably aren't feeling very friendly right now, what with you killing a member of their coven!"

There was silence for a moment, then Jake spoke. "Shit."

"Yep."

" _Fuck."_

"Yes, Jacob. But, maybe you could save the swearing for later and stop your friends from running to their deaths now?"

"Shit. Yeah okay, I'm going. But Bells, even if they can hear me, they might not listen." Jacob spoke worriedly. "They can be, and by 'they' I mean 'we', gigantic hotheads sometimes. If they smell a rogue vamp, they're going after her."

Bella bit her lip as she thought. "Where are they now? Have they reached Alaska yet?" She asked.

"…I don't think so." Jacob spoke hesitantly. "Bella, whatever you're thinking, just wait—"

"I'm going to head them off."

"Bella, no—"

She hung up the phone, and shoved it back into her pocket. Taking one last look at the house, Bella took off towards Alaska at full speed.

OOOOOO

She hadn't exactly tested out how fast she was yet, and Bella was almost shocked as the trees flew past her. The newborn stage is supposed to make vampires stronger and faster, which might be the one upside that's added to counter the _nearly uncontrollable bloodlust_ , but she had no idea just how fast she'd be.

Bella reached the border between Canada and Alaska in next to no time at all. She'd started her run pretty close to Canada already, so it hadn't taken long to reach where she was, but she still couldn't catch the trail of the pack or this new vampire. They must've already reached Alaska by now, Bella thought with some dread.

She wasn't stupid. The wolves may have been able to take down one vampire pretty simply, but a whole coven? She had her doubts that they'd last long enough to even be entertaining to fight.

Just as she was turning to run into the wilds of Alaska in search of her new friends, Bella caught a scent on the wind. It was sweet, smelling of raspberries and some kind of flower, and Bella knew she'd found the vampire. She was peering ahead of her, into the trees that marked the border between the two countries, when she heard footsteps behind her.

They were light, and Bella knew that if she wasn't a vampire, she wouldn't have heard them at all, and Bella had a momentary panic.

She'd beaten them to the border.

She'd thought that she was still catching up to the wolves and their chase, but she'd actually managed to run ahead of them, arriving at the border mere minutes before they themselves did.

Before the vampire did.

Bella spun around, and pitch black eyes met her own ruby ones before the vampire charged her.

 **OOOOOO**

 **Hey guys, If you're wondering what I'm picturing as the Volturi Queens, check out my tumblr elyzawrites ! I've got pictures up now!**


	6. Chapter 6

Bella may have had the 'newborn advantage', but a surprise attack can catch anyone off guard.

The blond vampire bull rushed her, hitting her middle with her shoulder and sending Bella straight into a tree. She didn't even have time to detach herself from the vegetation before the vampire was on her again, grabbing her by her throat.

Bella was used to feeling a bit of pain in her throat from the constant burning that accompanied her hunger pangs, but the cracks forming on her marble skin along with a fierce pressure made her panic. She brought up her legs and kicked the vampire in the torso, shoving her across the clearing.

"Wait!" Bella shouted. "Just hold on for one second. I'm not here to fight you!"

The blond stood up from her prone position and cocked her head curiously at Bella. She took that as a good sign and continued.

"You're Irina, right?"

The blonde's eyebrows scrunched in confusion before she gave a slow nod.

"My name is Bella Swan. I'm a friend of the Cullens." Her name seemed to get some recognition, and Bella could see Irina's eyes very slowly changing from black to a dark gold.

"The Cullens said that Bella Swan was a human." Her voice flowed across the clearing. Bella didn't think she could ever get used to how vampires sounded – like every word was a musical note, part of a grand symphony. Irina looked Bella up and down before giving a pointed stare at her red eyes. "It seems a lot has changed since we last saw our cousins."

"You have no idea." Bella muttered under her breath, but from the way the blond gave her a questioning look, she had overheard her comment.

Bella could feel every muscle in her body still strained, waiting for an attack, and she tried to relax herself, straitening until she was no longer crouched. Irina responded in kind, coming up from her own stance and giving Bella a perplexed, yet intrigued look.

"Look," Bella started, "This is gonna sound kinda ridiculous, but the wolves haven't done anything wrong."

Whatever animosity that had been lifted by Bella's attempt at calming the situation down returned in an instant. Irina's eyes were back to black and her fingers curled, making her hands look almost like claws.

"Those _mutts_ killed my mate!" She snarled at Bella. Bella quickly threw her hands up in supplication.

"Yes…Yes, they did, but—" Bella tried.

Irina let out a roar that would have curdled Bella's blood if she'd had any left, and once again launched herself at her. Their bodies met with a booming 'crack', almost like the sound of thunder, and Irina had Bella pinned to the ground in a matter of seconds.

Bella may have had more strength and speed, but she also had absolutely no fighting experience. She didn't know how old Irina was, but she was obviously the senior vampire here.

She could feel Irina's teeth snapping at her neck, held at bay only by the raw strength of Bella's hands holding her back, when she heard another voice.

"Bella!" Jacob screamed as he rushed forward, flanked by two wolves and followed by more.

"Stop! Just wait!" Bella yelled back from her position under Irina. Surprisingly, they listened to her, the wolves falling back to the tree line and Jacob stepping back to meet with Sam who had just come out of the woods, not shifted and in small jean shorts in even colder weather than last time.

"Irina!" Bella shouted once more, trying to break through to the vampire pinning her to the frosted ground. "I can't hold them off forever, and you can't fight them all by yourself. Can we please just talk for a second?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Came a voice from the other side of the clearing, opposite the wolves.

Four more vampires walked into the light, led by a woman with strawberry-blond hair and a stoic expression.

"Irina, it would be best if you stopped for a moment." The leader said.

The vampire above her growled, before sitting up, still straddling Bella, and speaking to the newcomer.

"Tanya, these are the wolves that killed Laurent! They should pay for their actions against our coven! Against me!"

The leader, Tanya, looked over at the wolves just barely restrained by the trees and the two men with them, then back to her coven-mate. "And did this vampire do something to upset you?" She gestured to their position.

Bella hadn't moved since they'd started talking. Eventually, Irina had stopped using pressure to hold her down, and now she was just sitting on her, but Bella didn't want to do anything that might provoke the blond, so she'd remained still beneath her. Now, after Tanya had mentioned her, Irina looked down at Bella, prompting the newborn to give a hesitant smile up at her. Irina looked amused for a second, before frowning again.

"She's with them! She probably helped them kill Laurent after the Cullens turned her." Irina said to her sister.

Tanya looked more confused that satisfied with that answer. "The Cullens?" She questioned. "Ah. This must be that Bella we've heard so much about." She looked at Bella as she said that, and Bella waved shyly from the ground, looking upside down at the vampires. The blond vampire that hadn't spoken yet let out a snort.

"Um, hi. Yes, I'm Bella. Could I please get up now?" She aimed this at Irina, and Irina seemed to half-heartedly consider it, before almost playfully answering with a shake of her head. Bella pouted, and this time more than one laugh came from the vampire side of the clearing, and a few huffs of breath that could be interpreted as laughs came from the wolves.

"And the Cullens didn't turn me. Laurent did." The laughter cut off, and the vampire above her stared at her, disbelieving. It was Tanya who spoke, however.

"Laurent changed you? When was this?" She spoke commandingly.

"Um, a few weeks ago maybe?" Bella answered. "I've been kind of out of it for a bit, so I'm not sure as to the exact time."

"Two and a half weeks ago!" Jacob yelled out from the other side of the clearing.

Bella nodded, her head scraping the ground a bit with the motion. "Right. Two and a half weeks ago." She answered the coven leader.

Tanya opened her mouth to speak, but Irina beat her to the punch.

"That's when he left to hunt." Irina informed everyone, though it seemed as though she was talking mainly to herself. She refocused on Bella. "Why did you ask Laurent to change you, instead of the Cullens? And why would you help these _wolves_ ," She spoke the word derisively, "kill your maker?"

Bella looked up at her, before shifting her sight to take in the entirety of the coven that had appeared. Each of them wore some version of a confused or questioning expression on their faces. It seemed to her like none of them knew what had happened. None of them had been involved in the attack on her. A quick look to the other side of the clearing informed her that Sam and Jacob had come to the same conclusion. She turned back to Irina before answering.

"I didn't ask Laurent to change me." She began. "He didn't even mean to change me. He was there to kill me." Ignoring the sharp gasps that the vampires emitted, Bella continued. "The wolves saved my life. They showed up right after Laurent had bitten me, and they drove him off."

Everyone's attention was on her when she said that, and she could tell that many of them were trying to tell if she was lying. Irina looked up at her coven leader, a question on her face. Eventually, it was Tanya that gave a sigh and said, "She's telling the truth, Irina."

The blond above her shook as the truth settled on her shoulders. Her hands clutched at Bella's jacket, almost seeming to draw some kind of comfort from it, before she let out a loud sob.

"No, he…no that can't—" Irina whispered brokenly.

The wolves, even in full wolf form, looked very awkward in the moment, but they didn't leave Bella alone to the strange new vampires, instead choosing to sit on the sidelines as the sad scene played out.

As Irina cried, her coven mates watched with matching expressions of sympathy, the pain on their faces mirroring Irina's, as if they could feel exactly what she was going through. Irina's body lowered even more onto Bella, and Bella's hands came up to awkwardly clasp the blonde's shoulders as Irina sobbed into her neck, holding her to her in an attempt to comfort her. She may not know these vampires very well, but she knew what it was like to lose someone you thought to be your mate.

As she rubbed her hands down Irina's back, her hands started to tingle.

"God damnit, not now!" She hissed as the world turned blurry as the corners. Irina withdrew her head from its position against Bella's chest, and her eyes widened as the vampire beneath her seemed to fade for a second. Bella's hands dug at the ground beneath her as she tried to pull back from whatever was yanking her away, but it was useless.

She could only hear a startled 'what the-' before she faded out and a very confused vampire fell about half a foot to the floor.

OOOOOO

Bella 'woke up' on her back in a dark room.

The scent of mothballs and damp earth filled her nose when she took a deep breath, trying to get used to the sensation of being thrown through reality. Around her were barrels as far as the eye could see, stacked all the way to the ceiling, though the ceiling was quite low. The floor below her was dirt, but there were stone looking steps that led to a door above her, so Bella was hoping that maybe she'd been wrong before. Maybe she hadn't been sent to the past all of those time, she had just ended up in some isolated village, not a time period before metal-working.

Bella stood, and a cloud of dust rose with her. She'd been in the corner of the room, and the dust had been sitting on the floor for a while judging by the thick layer of it. In the middle of the room, and on the stairway leading up, the area was cleared out a bit of dust, just from general usage and foot traffic. It became obvious that not too many people came down to this dark, dank room, and ever fewer had tried to clean it. There was a box, half opened and with some kind of rags spilling out at the base of the stairs, and Bella stepped over it as she made her way to the top step, stopping and pressing her ear to the door. After about a minute of complete silence, Bella pulled back and grabbed the handle to the door, slowly cracking it open.

A long hallway led in either direction from the door, and more doors lined the hallway on the side that held the room Bella was currently in. There were torches hanging in sconces on the walls, and the walls themselves were lined with pedestals that held beautifully painted pots and marble-looking busts. None of this, however, held her attention as much as the center of the room.

It wasn't even a room, per say, but more of a cut out of the house. Giant pillars held up the walls around a large circular area. Green plants and flowers were planted along pathways that led to the center, where an incredibly detailed sculpture of a muscled man held out his cupped hands, with water held in them and in the fountain base _below_.

 _Damn._

It must've taken years just to design the masterpiece, and even longer to create it. The whole room spoke of money, and Bella was hoping that whoever the owners were, they were lenient on the whole 'breaking and entering' thing. Especially since she hadn't _technically_ broke in.

The soft pitter-patter of tiny feet registered to Bella, and she slowly let the door close the inch she had opened it, slipping back into the darkness. The passed by her, and it seemed like whoever it was, they were running.

Bella hoped this wasn't another scenario where someone was trying to kill them, because she was kinda full from the last one, and the person sounded really small, like a child. Bella could only briefly wonder who would want to harm a child before she heard the sounds returning from where they had passed her.

The steps seemed to slow a bit, and quick breaths and a racing heart was all Bella heard for a moment as the person seemed to stop just to the right of the door Bella currently stood behind.

Another pair of footsteps, these ones accompanied by a loud and grating voice calling out, echoed in the distance, also closing in on her location, and it seemed whatever decision the child had been stuck on was made as the door in front of Bella suddenly swung open, and a small child rushed in, closing the door behind it.

The little girl put her back up against the door, closing her eyes and leaning on it as she took a few slower gulps of air, trying to calm her breathing and remain quiet.

Her blond hair was stuck to her face in a few places, and Bela could tell that this chase had been going on for a while now. The few strands that weren't plastered against her neck and face were tied back with some kind of rope, and one strand of hair was swaying back and forth in front of her with the heaving breaths of the girl who couldn't be more than five or six.

She stayed in that position as the second pair of feet rushed past the door, the owner screeching all the while, and when they finally rounded the corner, their voice trailing off with the distance put between them, the girl let out a breath of air and opened her eyes.

Those tiny blue eyes widened to the size of saucers, and Bella felt the urge to slap herself in the face for forgetting to hide.

Bella towered over the child. She hadn't moved back apart from a foot to close the door, and the child now took up that small space, leaving the vampire hovering over her, staring down with red eyes that glinted in what little light was let in from the crack under the door.

Bella had always been told by any and all vampires that she knew while she was human that she had little to no self-preservation instincts, but they were wrong. When she had first seen the Cullens, she had felt that same sense of gnawing fear that all humans feel when confronted with a predator that could kill you before you blink. Humans always had an aversion to vampires, some instinct inside them warning them away, and Bella was no different. It was just that her insatiable curiosity had overrode that hesitance, that primal fear, and led her directly into their dangerous arms, regardless of the feelings she fought against to get there.

She couldn't tell if this girl was the same as her, or if she really _was_ lacking in any kind of self-preservation instincts, because moments after seeing a tall, imposing figure with red eyes hiding in the dark and leaning over her, she laughed.

The girl _laughed._

Honest to God _giggled_ in the face of a blood thirsty creature of the night.

Bella blinked. She'd been standing there as still as a statue, but this completely senseless child was laughing at her. Before becoming a vampire, Bella hadn't known she could feel simultaneously amused and offended. She was a _vampire_ for fucks sake.

The girl should be _afraid_ of her.

But no. Instead she laughed.

A small hand came up to cover the girl's mouth as she tried and failed to suppress her laughter. Her small eyes narrowed then, turning to Bella with an almost accusing glare, before she brought one finger to her lips and shushed her.

The girl laughed in her face, now she was shushing her. _Seriously?_

If there had ever been a better example of shock then Bella's face at the moment, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear that story.

"Athenodora, Ubi es?" The screecher was back, and this time, they had company. "Athenodora, veni huc!"

A myriad of voices coming from all over the garden area that Bella had seen earlier sounded out, all seeming to call for this 'Athenodora' person, and Bella narrowed her eyes at the child suspiciously.

The cheeky little brat just smiled back up at her, keeping her finger to her lips.

The girl, Athenodora, turned back to face the door, keeping her ear against it as the people behind it searched for her, calling out her name, and Bella couldn't tell if this was some kind of hide-and-seek situation, or if the little trouble maker was just hiding, and the role of seeker was forced upon those outside.

She didn't have longer to ponder on it before things started to blur again. It was a silent thing, not some loud 'pop' or 'boom' that announced her _gift._ She was simply whisked away, fading out of existence in once place, and coming back in another, so the child in front of her was left unawares as Bella 'left'.

When the girl turned back to make sure her strange accomplice wouldn't blow her cover, she found the room empty behind her, the dust on the ground the only thing disturbed.

OOOOOO

Bella was laying on the ground in the clearing, in the exact place she left, though this time without a crying vampire on top of her.

The wolves and the vampires were gone, but their scent lingered in the air, only a couple hours old.

The first time she was supposedly gone weeks, and the next two times, only hours went by before she returned? Maybe it had something to do with her change, but Bella couldn't figure out how this whole 'gift' of hers worked.

She sighed, standing up from the cold forest floor, and began following the smell of the wolves and the vampires back into Canada, resolving to think about her new power after she dealt with the wolves and vampires that wanted to kill each other.

Why couldn't anything ever be easy?

 **OOOOOO**

 **A/N: Thank you, everyone who is sticking with me on this journey! I'm trying not to rush things, while also not leaving you guys getting bored without the girls getting together. I gotta warn you, I'm a bit of a slow burn fan, though I'm shit at writing it, so I don't know how this is going to turn out yet.**

 **I'll try to keep updating whenever I can as I've been doing so far, but classes are starting up again soon and I have to move into my new apartment! So, it might not be as often as I've been doing it. I hope you keep reading and reviewing. I love reading your comments!**


	7. Chapter 7

During the run back to Fork, Bella decided to try her hand at hunting the 'vegetarian' way.

She'd only had to feed once since she'd been changed, but Bella knew she would have to keep herself sated as much as possible to avoid any incidents. She didn't want to go into some kind of newborn frenzy and hurt an innocent, or, god forbid, somebody she cared about, so she let her instincts take over and opened her senses to the area around her as she ran.

The first thing that hit her was the overwhelming smell of almonds and vanilla.

Bella had been so caught up in the absurdity of the situation, that she hadn't really had time to take in the scent of that little girl. It was incredibly enticing – the smell calling to something inside of her that Bella struggled to keep at bay – but she pushed past the scent, moving beyond her sense of smell to try and lookout for any wildlife in the area to sate her newly reinvigorated hunger.

There, in the distance, Bella heard the heavy breathing of a large animal, and she zoomed toward it. Coming upon a small herd of elk, Bella crouched low to the floor behind a patch of bushes just out of sight and downwind of the animals.

A bull led the group, his antlers branching from his skull and reaching toward the sky an in impressive fashion. After this was over, and she returned home, she could let Charlie know that she had managed to gain an interest in hunting. They might even be able to bond over it.

Bella tensed her legs, her calf muscles bunching as she pounced upon the large animal, grabbing it by the antlers with one hand and by the fur of its neck with her other. The quick attack stunned the other elk around her, but they sprang into action, fleeing the sight before the predator took them down as well.

She sank her teeth into the wild beast, and the loud sound of the frightened animal echoed in her ears. The gush of hot blood into her mouth wasn't nearly as satisfying as those attackers that had chased that woman had been, but Bella forced herself to swallow mouthful after mouthful of the foul tasting liquid.

The dying sounds of the creature were pitiful, and Bella tried to soothe it, even while her teeth stayed in its neck, by petting the coarse hairs on his neck.

After the bull had been drained, Bella lowered it to the ground gently, her face a mask of sorrow. That had been worse than killing those men. At least the men had been trying to hurt someone, the bull was just minding its own business. If anything, it was leading its herd, and that's not anything to be killed over.

She knelt to the ground beside it, her hand hovering over the wound on its neck before resting softly on it.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to the open air – and apology for the innocent life lost.

She didn't know how the Cullens could do it. Bella had always been a selfless person. She had left Phoenix so her mother could be happy with Phil without the chains of a child to hold her down. She had snuck away from Alice and Jasper when James was hunting her, so that they could be spared the fate that she had no doubt awaited her.

Bella had always known the value of an innocent life, and even if they were animals, they were innocent.

She didn't know what she was supposed to do with this revelation. She had witnessed the reckless bloodthirst of a human drinking coven in the form of James, Victori, and Laurent. She had been told horror stories by the Cullens about the ruthlessness of the Volturi, luring helpless tourists away from the herd so they could be dined upon, their screams echoing through the halls.

Bella didn't want to be like that, but she couldn't knowingly kill an innocent animal either, so that left her with very few choices in the way of her dietary choices.

She didn't know what she would do, but Bella resolved right there and then that she wouldn't take an innocent life. Sam had said himself that those men who had attacked the innocent were monsters. Maybe, Bella thought, she could just hunt monsters.

She shook her head to clear that morbid line of thought. Now wasn't the time to have an existential crisis.

She took a final, parting glance at the life she had ended, and pulled away, taking off into the woods, headed for home.

OOOOOO

The light in the living room was on when she got home.

She knew that the new vampires and the wolves weren't at her house, their scent had led off in the direction of the Cullens house, but she wanted to check in with Charlie before she ran head first into a potentially deadly situation. While Irina may have grieved for Laurent, and the relationship they had, that doesn't mean she's ready to forgive and forget.

When she swung the door open, Charlie leapt off his chair, the shotgun in his hand aimed at the door with a fierce look in his eyes. Bella stopped in her tracks, hand raised in an awkward wave, while Charlie quickly pointed the gun back to the floor.

"Sorry Bells." He rubbed the back of his neck as he sank back into his chair. "I've just been a little on edge recently."

"I don't blame you." She responded, more amused than anything. "Though, that gun wouldn't have done much good against a vampire."

He looked up from the ground in confusion. "I'm pretty sure that if you shot something's head off, no matter the species, that they die, Bella." He gasped. "Wait…can you live without a head? Like…like a chicken?"

Bella threw her head back with a laugh. "No, dad, I'm not like a chicken. I'm just bullet-proof." Charlie stared at Bella incredulously, but she was already off in her own world on another tangent. "Actually, I have no idea if I can live with my head separated from my body. Now that I think about it, the Cullens did say you had to take a vampire apart and burn all the pieces if you wanted to kill it, so does that mean that if someone burned my body, but left my head, I'd regrow it? Or if they burned my head, could I grow that back? What if they burned everything but my finger…"

At this point, Charlie was looking a little pale, so Bella stopped her disturbing musings.

"Kid, it's one thing to know you're all…" He gestured at her with a wave of his hand. "But I don't need that kind of image in my head. You're still my kid."

Bella smiled warmly, "I know. Thanks dad."

"For what?" Charlie asked, his face scrunched in confusion.

"Just…for everything. For not looking at me the way Billy Black does. For being so cool with this. I mean, when I first found out about all this stuff it was kind of overwhelming, so I understand how hard it is, but you aren't giving up on me. So, thank you."

He gave a small chuckle, his face flushing with embarrassment. "You don't have to thank me for being your dad, Bells. And I'd always be there for—wait. How exactly does Billy look at you?" His face turned serious.

"Uh…" Bella remembered years upon years of friendship between the two men. Billy had been there for Charlie when Renée had taken Bella and left Forks behind. Even if the man got on her nerves with the looks he was giving her, she couldn't destroy that friendship. "It's nothing, really. I'm just being weird about—"

"Isabella Marie Swan." Bella flinched. "How has Billy been looking at you?" he repeated.

"Like I'm dead." She let out a sigh when Charlie's face turned red, the vein in his forehead highlighting his rising anger. "Dad, it's not his fault." He stared at her skeptically. "Really! A group of vampires attacked their tribe a long time ago. His whole tribe has been raised on the idea that the 'Cold Ones' were these evil creatures who lost their souls. Being raised around that kind of prejudice colors your opinion on things, whether you want it to or not. You are not losing your best friend just because he was raised by bigots." She paused. "Bigots who were king of right at the time."

The anger dropped from his face, and Charlie leaned back into chair in a more comfortable position, rubbing a hand down his face. He looked exhausted now that Bella got a good look at him.

"How long have you been awake, dad?"

He glanced up at her. "I don't know, Bells, a couple days? Things have been a bit hectic lately, and I haven't exactly gotten a lot of down time."

Bella schooled her expression into the one she gave her mother when she'd been up on another Netflix binge and forgot that human beings needed sleep.

"Charlie Swan, you go to bed right now." She spoke seriously.

He cracked a grin at her demeanor. "Yes, ma'am."

Bella rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. Now shoo." She waved him up the stairs and didn't leave the bottom of the staircase until she heard him settle down into the mattress. Then she turned and headed for the door, picking up her 'disguise kit' on the way, and shutting it as softly as humanly – or vampirely – possible.

OOOOOO

The house was exactly as she remembered it, minus the ridiculously expensive cars in the driveway. The only difference that Bella could discern was that it was occupied by a different set of vampires.

Bella walked up to the house with trepidation before realizing that the sounds of life she heard weren't coming from inside it, but rather behind the house, and she ran around the perimeter towards the back.

On either side of the enormous grassy yard stood what looked like two factions of a war. The wolves, minus Sam, were all shifted and baring their teeth on one side, and on the other the five vampires were in a v-formation with Tanya at the front. All of their eyes were still gold, even Irina. Although hers were a bit darker than the rest.

Tanya and Sam stood right in front of each other, just looking at the other in some kind of weird staring contest. Whatever negotiations had been going on, they'd been going poorly.

Before Bella could so much as speak, one of the wolves snarled and lunged forward. Bella blurred in front of the wolf, grabbing it by its throat in the air and throwing it to the ground past the wolves and almost reaching the trees.

The wolf, Paul because of fucking course it's him again, let out a pitiful whimper, but the other wolves didn't suddenly attack Bella, so she took that as a sign that he'd been acting on his own for that little stunt.

"Oh, shut up Paul, I didn't throw you that hard." She turned to Sam. "Hasn't he learned yet not to randomly attack vampires." Sam shook his head, his laughter only showing in his eyes.

"We're working on it." He said.

"Nice of you to finally show up." The blond who hadn't been introduced yet said with a joking grin on her face, betraying her amusement. "That was a neat trick you pulled earlier."

Bella replied with a smile of her own. "Thanks. I needed a little something extra if I wanted to compete with all the _real_ magicians out there if my magic show was ever going to go anywhere."

The vampire laughed. "You got a show? What's it called, 'How to Pull a Houdini'?"

"That's actually better than the one I had in mind. Mind if I use it? All I had so far was something about magic fingers and fangs." Bella replied.

The blonde's grin grew wicked. "Magic fingers? You got that magic touch?"

"Kate." Tanya interjected, her tone sharp and reprimanding, but when she turned her eyes away from the wolves to look at the two of them, her eyes were crinkling at the corners from trying to hold back her laughter.

"Right, sorry." Kate replied, looking about as far from sorry as one could as she winked at Bella.

The coven leader let out a huffed breath before looking at Bella. "We can discuss what exactly what happened in Alaska was later. We were hoping that now you could explain exactly what's happened before Laurent showed up here and after. Mr. Uley told us enough to help us understand that they were not at fault for killing Laurent unprovoked, but he has left much unanswered."

All eyes turned to Bella expectantly, and she bit her lip as she contemplated telling the truth. She could tell them about the time traveling theory, or she could cut that part out of the explanation of what happened. Either way, she was going to be telling some uncomfortable secrets, she just didn't know how in depth she should go.

She released her lip as she decided to just explain the story with the idea that she could just teleport. She didn't know these vampires too well, and while she does want closure for Irina, and the assurance of safety for the pack, she wasn't going to be showing her whole hand just yet.

"It started on my birthday," Bella began, "or maybe even before that, when the Cullens took me out to watch them play baseball…"

OOOOOO

The story lasted about an hour to get all the way through. She glossed over a few things, like the time travel and where exactly she'd gone during each trip, as well as the exact way the Cullens left. They didn't need to know the ugly truth about her abandonment. She knew she needed to be thorough and explain everything that had happened with James' coven in order for the whole truth to be exposed, but by the end of the tale, Bella was regretting her candor.

Irina had been listening with rapt attention, and with each mention of her 'mate' her eyes had grown darker and more closed off. By the end, with Bella's recounting of the events that happened in the meadow, and how Laurent had bitten her with the intent to kill, she was clutching at herself desperately, her eyes squeezed shut as she let the final word bring about a silence through the yard.

The silence didn't last long however.

Her eyes snapped open, pitch black, and Bella saw a fury there that worried her for the current strained peace that had been set over the wolves as vampires. She reached up with her right hand and yanked on a silver necklace that had been gleaming on her throat, breaking the chain. She gazed down at the jewelry with disgust for a moment before slowly closing her fist over the pendant that had been resting there. When she reopened her fist, there was nothing but a twisted and gnarled piece of metal left.

"That lying bastard." The words were so quiet that even with her new hearing, Bella had to strain to catch them. She let the metal fall to the ground with a soft 'thud' before letting out a heavy sigh and turning her gaze to Bella. "I'm truly sorry for this. For…for everything that's happened to you. If I'd known the kind of person he truly was…" She trailed off.

"I'm sorry as well." More than one vampire looked at her in confusion, forcing her to elaborate. "If it weren't for me, you'd have never met him and had to deal with any of this in the first place."

Irina gaped at her, but she wasn't the one who spoke next. "That's your reaction to all of this?" Tanya surprised her by asking the question. " _You_ are apologizing? After everything?" The coven leader looked shocked.

Bella gave her a shrug, her smile sad. "I know what it's like to be lied to by someone who claimed to love you."

The silence that followed her statement was more out of bewilderment than anything, but Tanya spoke again, once more the serious coven leader. "I think there is a bit more to the story about the Cullens that you haven't told us, but maybe now isn't the time for it." She gave Bella a meaningful look, and Bella sighed. They were going to have to have a talk later.

"For now," Tanya continued, "I'd like to set up a treaty with the shifters." She nodded to Sam. "It seems like we may be in town for a while, and we heard you had a treaty with the Cullens. Is it possible to extend that to us as well?"

"I'd have to talk with the Council." Sam paused. "But from what I've seen, I think it will work out. Where will you be staying? There are more shifters in La Push that haven't gone through their first shift yet, and if you get too close it might cause some discomfort."

Tanya let her gaze wander over the empty house. "We can stay here until our cousins get back. I'm sure they wont mind."

Sam was nodding in agreement, but Bella's head had snapped up at her words. "Get back?" she questioned, her tone strained. "Are they… are they coming back?"

Tanya looked at her, taking in her tense posture and her hands clutching at her arms and clothes and anything that could ground her. "Not that I know of. I was thinking of the long-term. We haven't heard from our cousins since Edward came to visit almost a year ago."

Bella swallowed, her throat bobbing around the knot that stuck there. "Right. Sorry. Nevermind."

The blond nodded slowly, letting the subject go for now, but Bella knew there was no way she'd be able to get out of that talk now.

"If that's all," Sam spoke, "We should get back and report to the Council. They'll want to know everything that's happened."

With a parting glance, he headed out into the woods, most of the pack following behind him. One large russet-brown wolf lingered a moment, brushing against Bella as it went by like a friendly cat, causing her to let out a startled laugh when the weight of the thing nearly knocked her over.

"Go, Jake. I'll see you later." Bella said.

The wolf huffed before following after it's pack, and Bella was left alone with the vampires.

 **OOOOOO**

 **Thank you guys again for reading and reviewing my work!**


	8. Chapter 8

They were all staring at her.

Bella hadn't turned since she'd watched Jacob disappear into the trees, but she could feel their gazes on the side of her face, and she took an unnecessary breath before turning to address them.

"So…you come here often?" Bella may have been the first vampire in history to flinch at her own words.

Luckily, it seemed to soften the tense atmosphere, and most of the coven started filing into the large, a few stray chuckles being released on their way. Soon it was only Bella, Tanya, and Irina, and Tanya laid her hand on Irina's shoulder for a moment, and when she received a nod, followed the rest of her coven into the house.

The silence that rested over the two remaining vampires was far from comfortable. Bella fidgeted, more a habit from her human life than an actual need for movement, and Irina glanced at her before letting out a sigh, and heading off into the trees in the opposite direction the wolves had gone.

Well, Bella thought, I guess that's that. And she turned to head back home to update him on everything that happened, but she was stopped by a gentle 'wait.' And Bella looked over her shoulder to see Irina gesturing for her to follow after her with a wave of her hand. Bella bit her lip and weighed the odds of the vampire attacking her once they were far enough away from anyone who could hear.

Irina must have seen something on her face because the blond rolled her eyes and sped over, taking Bella's hand and pulling her along, not giving her a choice in the matter.

"Honestly. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead." Irina said over her shoulder to Bella.

Somehow, the cliché movie line didn't exactly comfort Bella, but she let herself be dragged along without resistance. When they reached a small opening in the trees, Irina let go of Bella's hand and sat down on a fallen tree, crossing her ankles and managing to look like she was in a fashion show even while covered in dirt and in the middle of the woods.

Bella waited another moment for the vampire to speak, and when all she got was a wave at the spot on the log next to her, Bella took the seat offered, staring out at the woods in a much more comfortable silence than before.

"I don't blame you, if that's what you're thinking." Irina broke the quiet, and Bella turned to look at her, but the blond was still facing the trees. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. The man I believed to be my mate had lied to me, manipulated me, and for what?" She let out a humorless chuckle. "For some other woman that wanted revenge against a girl who'd done nothing but keep dangerous company?"

She turned to Bella then. "I know it might not mean much, especially after I attacked you earlier, but thank you." A crinkle formed in Bella's brow as she stared, confused, at the blond. "For saving me." Irina finished.

"Saving you?" Bella stuttered out incredulously. "I haven't done anything."

Irina gave a small smile to the brunette. "You told me the truth." She said. "You told me what he never did. You stopped me from running straight to my death by entering into a fight to avenge a man who didn't deserve it." Irina's smile grew at the nonplussed look on Bella's face. "So, thank you."

That seemed to indicate the end of the conversation, as Irina stood from the log and started heading back in the direction of the house.

"Now, come on! We've got more to hear from you about everything that's happened, and my whole coven needs to hear it."

Bella had hoped for a moment when Irina dragged her into the woods that she might be able to skip that 'talk', but she was proven wrong. With a disgruntled groan, that drew a laugh from Irina, Bella stood from the log. And immediately sat back down.

Her fingers were tingling.

Irina glanced down at her, confused by the sudden stillness of the newborn. When Bella flickered from view suddenly, her eyes widened, and she blurred back to the sitting vampire just in time for her to disappear. All that was left were carved out sections of the log from were Bella had tried to hold herself to this place before she was whisked away.

OOOOOO

She was by the sea again.

It was a more distant smell this time, lingering in the air but not overwhelming Bella's sense of smell. And the crashing of the waves wasn't the first thing Bella heard. Instead, as Bella regained her senses, all she could hear was a furious pounding. The rhythmic 'thumps' were like a song to Bella, calling her to the source, and when she turned, she found it.

Or rather, _her._

That little girl from before, the one with the dragging dress and tear filled eyes, was sitting with her back pushed up against the side of the house, her fingers pawing at the wooden grain as her wide eyes stayed locked on her.

She was staring at Bella.

Bella's red eyes widened. _Shit._

The girl was a bit older, growing her from small and chubby body to one with awkward, jutting elbows and knees. She must've been about 14, hitting that part of her life where her body doesn't quite seem to fit her. Her bare feet were covered in dirt, and the callouses on them demonstrated a different kind of life than what Bella was used to.

What really caught Bella's attention, though, is her heartbeat. It had been racing before, probably from the shock at having a random red-eyed woman appear out of thin air before her, but now it was slowing down to a calmer pace. It was still faster than it should be, but the smell of fear that had filled Bella's nostrils was starting to dissipate.

Bella remained motionless, still as a statue, as she stared at the teen in front of her, waiting for her to look away, or even blink long enough for Bella to sprint from view. If she moved quickly enough, the girl might think she was just a figment of her imagination, but the girl's blue eyes remained unblinking, fixed on the apparition before her.

Hesitantly, a bony hand reached out, coming toward Bella's face at a pace so slow that Bella was worried that she'd somehow triggered her vampire speed in those drawn out moments. When they finally made contact, the air in the teen's lungs rushed out of her and her heart started to speed up again.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Bella spoke the words quietly, like she was afraid of spooking a wild animal, but the girl's breath hitched at the musical sound anyway. She spoke something then in that language Bella had heard her using before, but her complete lack of understanding must have shown on her face, because the teen gave a confused look of her own before repeating her foreign words.

Bella didn't really know what to do in a possible scenario where a time traveler suddenly interacted with a girl from a period long gone, in a language long dead, but apparently sitting there with her mouth open, gazing at the girl like a brainless idiot wasn't the correct response. So this time when the girl spoke, she gave a shrug of her shoulders in response, wearing an apologetic look.

The crinkle that had formed in the girl's brow smoothed out, and a small, understanding smile replaced it. She pulled her hand back from where it had stayed on Bella's cheek, and brought it to her own chest, palm against her heart and fingers splayed wide.

"Didyme." She only spoke one word, and Bella really hoped that she was interpreting her correctly and that was the girl's name. It was a beautiful name.

Bella repeated the gesture, hand to her heart. "Bell—" She cut herself off, suddenly. _Bella_ wasn't exactly a common name in Ancient Greece, was it? What was a more common name? Is that something a person can even google? Are there enough records of Ancient Greece to know the 'most common girl names'?

"Bell." The girl, Didyme, repeated with a grin growing on her face, and the effect her sudden happiness had was like being hugged by sunshine, so Bella let it go and gave a small, sheepish smile of her own.

The laughter that rose from Didyme's chest seemed less amused and more startled and slightly hysterical about what exactly was happening, and Bella couldn't blame her. If a random girl just dropped out of nowhere and practically landed in her lap she'd be a bit off center, too.

A sudden voice from inside the house yelled out, and Bella froze in place. She'd already let herself be seen twice, once by a child and once by this strange teen in front of her. She couldn't let it happen again. There had to be some kind of rules for time travel. Everyone's heard of the Butterfly Effect.

She needn't have worried, though, for as soon as the voice called out, Didyme responded in kind, yelling back something that must've been an assurance, because the person inside the house settled back into silence. Didyme turned back to Bella then, and Bella finally noticed the small knife in her hands and the wood shavings covering the ground. The girl had been out here carving something.

Before she could see what exactly had taken shape before Bella had so rudely interrupted, Didyme shoved something behind her, giggling, and put all four fingers to her mouth, covering it in a strange way, and Bella took this to mean that she had to be quiet.

She gave an acquiescing nod, and Didyme leapt to her feet, wiping her hands on the front of her dirty dress over her thighs, and reached forward, grabbing Bella's hand, before taking off into the trees. Bella let herself be pulled along, her curiosity of this girl who had skipped right past any kind of rational reaction to a girl appearing from thin air and went right to holding her hand moving her forward.

Soon, Didyme brought them to a path that wound through the trees, and Bella was surprised to see it was the same path as last time, this one slightly more worn down. Before they reached the end of the path, however, Didyme stopped. Belatedly, Bella was thankful they hadn't gone past the trees. She'd been I the cover of their looming shadows since she'd come to in this place just minutes before, and all she had to do was look up to see that the sun was out in full force today.

She didn't need to see this girl's reaction to seeing her in the sun.

Didyme, unaware at her inner musings, plopped herself down on the ground right in the middle of the path and still holding on to Bella's hand, forcing her to bend a bit. The girl stared up at the vampire, eyes expectant, and after a minute of silence passed, Didyme rolled her eyes – a thing even in ancient times apparently – and yanked on her hand twice.

Bella finally got the hint and sat down, cross-legged on the dirt. She received a smile from Didyme, and another string of words in that strange language, before Didyme seemed to heave a sigh at the lack of response from her new companion, and looked at her with a frustrated frown, crossing her arms over her chest.

Weirdly apologetic, despite the fact that she really should have been expected to know a dead language to call upon at random, Bella gave Didyme a sympathetic wince before releasing a sigh of her own and just waiting for that strange that signaled her power was about to yank her away from the past again.

A light sparked behind the blue eyes in front of her then, and Didyme grabbed at Bella's sleeve excitedly before grabbing both sides of her face. Bella's eyes widened, confused at the sudden turn of events, before those hands directed her vision downward…to a foot.

Bella glanced back up at Didyme's face, letting her confusion show plainly, before those hands once again guided her gaze back down, this time with a word accompanying the action. She let go of her face, and a hand entered her view along with the dirt covered foot, pointing at the appendage and repeating the word again.

Bella suddenly understood, repeating the word slowly, trying to make sure she got the pronunciation right, and looked back to Didyme's eyes. An enthusiastic nod of her head was her response, and Bella pointed at her own foot, repeating the word once more. Didyme once again nodded, a gigantic grin taking over her face, and Bella got it. That was the word for foot.

Her excitement at her understanding lasted for a second before the wariness set it. She was going to have to learn another entire language, one that wouldn't be useful at all in the modern world, just to communicate with this girl. One last look up at the teen's face wiped her dread away though. Nothing that could make her look that happy could be a waste of time.

Bella set her jaw determinedly, she was prepared to spend the rest of her 'trip', however long it might last, trying to learn to communicate with this Didyme and her bright smile, until she was forced back into her time once more. She nodded at Didyme, and pointed to her hand, waiting for the next word.

OOOOOO

It had been three days, and Bella was still here.

She'd spent a majority of that time with Didyme, the little ray of sunshine. Bella was used to teens being meaner, stuck in their own world, and generally self-oriented. That's just how most people are in their teenage years. But Didyme was a beacon of hope for her hopes of ever interacting in a pleasant conversation with one. The girl was just kind.

Every time that Didyme could get free time from washing the clothes and preparing the food and the other household chores, she was in the woods, calling for 'Bell', ready for another lesson.

They'd progressed a bit since starting, most of that having to do with Bella's new perfect memory and abundance of free time, and Bella was finally able to speak small sentences to the girl.

" _Busy?"_ Bella asked, the words still feeling foreign on her tongue.

Didyme skipped over to her, having finished her weaving for the day, with a large smile on her face.

" _Never for you, Bell."_ The teen replied.

Bella raised an eyebrow at the girl. " _Really? What about Ancus?"_ The teen's smile drooped just slightly before returning to its full glory, albeit a bit more strained than before.

That was something Bella had noticed in the few days that she'd been stuck wandering the woods and living in the past, the surprisingly large amount of visitors her little friend got every day. It seemed that every hour, on the hour, a new boy or their father would come strolling up to the front of the cabin, ready to court the smiling teen.

Bella had even seen some elderly men, their graying hair slicked back and sleazy smiles sliding on their faces when they looked Didyme up and down. She'd had to stop herself from following a few of them back to their homes once Didyme had sent them away. She didn't trust them around the girl.

One thing that never happened though, was Didyme responding with her own affections towards any of these men. Some of them were obviously rich, their rings and gaudy necklaces declaring their wealth for all to see, and many were quite handsome as well. Bella's favorite was a cute looking kid from the village just beyond the trees. Ancus was the son of the local healer, and his nurturing personality showed his aptitude for the trade.

None of them seemed to garner the attention of Didyme, however.

" _He didn't come today."_ The light blush on Didyme's face was appealing, the rush of blood singing to Bella, and she cringed a bit as she swallowed back a mouthful of venom. That bright smile was turned on Bella at that moment, and Didyme's next words halted her in her path as she followed behind the girl to their place in the woods. " _My brother is coming home tonight! I can't wait for you to meet him."_

It wasn't the change of topic, too sudden to be anything but a misdirection, that brought Bella up short. It was her image of that man, crouched over his father's body, blowing smoke into the dying man's lungs and holding his crying sister with a gleeful smile on his face. Bella tried to repress a shudder.

Didyme walked ahead, oblivious to her inner struggles.

" _I can't meet him."_ Bella's words were the ones that stopped Didyme this time, and the teen looked back at the vampire, confused.

" _What? Why not? He'd love you! He's always loved the stories of wraiths and goliaths and—"_

" _That's why."_ Bella interrupted, seeking an out to having to deal with the twisted man. _"I have to be a secret, Didyme. I'm…"_ Her rudimentary grasp on the language failed for a moment. _"I'm not something you can tell people about. If people know, they could get hurt. Do you want your brother to get hurt?"_

Didyme's head shook so fast that Bella was a little afraid the girl might get whiplash. _"No!"_

" _Then you can't tell him, alright?"_ The teen pouted in a very teen-like manner, her lower lip jutting out and her foot stomping the ground as she looked at her toes, mumbling. _"What was that?"_

Didyme let out a sigh. _"I said fine, I won't tell Aro, or anyone else about you."_

Bella smiled widely in response, brushing her fingertips fondly over the child's cheek, and that blush came back full force, along with a slightly dazed look in her eyes.

" _Thank you, Didyme. Now…"_ Bella tilted her chin up. _"Where's that smile?"_

Didyme let out a small giggle, muffled in her throat as she tried and failed to suppress her smile.

" _There we go. You have such a lovely smile."_ The boys in the village really were doomed from the start, the kid was just too…

" _Wait, did you say Aro?"_ Bella's words were strained, and the sudden shift in tone caused Didyme to frown.

The tingling was back in her fingertips. _Oh god, not now._

" _Yes, that's my brother."_ Didyme's words were getting harder and harder to hear, being drowned out by the sudden ringing in her ears. " _Bell, are you okay."_

The boy. His face had looked familiar, Bella remembered. She'd been trying to place where she might have seen it from, and the answer hadn't come to her, how could it? He looked so different in the painting.

He looked so different as a vampire.

" _Didyme."_ Bella tried to speak, but it felt like she was just mouthing the words, deaf as she was to the world around her. She could see hands clutching at her arms, she could see Didyme yelling at her, a terrified look on her face, but she couldn't do anything. Bella could only stand there, staring at the girl in front of her with a sad look in her eyes as she faded from view.

 **OOOOOO**

 **Follow me on tumblr elyzawrites !**


	9. Chapter 9

Bella came back in the middle of the woods, clutching at her arms as she took deep breaths. Oxygen may not have been necessary for her anymore, but the action itself was so ingrained in her from her time after the Cullens' left, that she resorted to it now in her panic.

Could it really have been the same Aro? Could the literal King of the vampire race have been sitting in that house, just yards away from Bella, as a human? Could the leader who gives less than two shits for the suffering of his subject really have been a child once?

Bella remembered the twisted grin on the boy's face as he stood over his dying father and thought ' _yes, yes he could.'_

She clawed harder at her arms cracks forming in her granite skin at the strain of her steel grip.

She had left Didyme there. Bella had left a girl who smiled at a vampire like she was an angel alone with that twisted bastard. Her _brother._

 _Oh my god._

"-la!"

Bella grit her teeth, letting go of her arms and digging into the ground around her. She had been thrown through time and space more times than she could explain, and she was getting tired of it. She'd had no control over any of it. She would just be standing there, and suddenly her power would activate and chuck her across the years like she was nothing. It was _her_ power. It didn't control her. She would control it.

For the first time since becoming a vampire, Bella tried to consciously activate her power.

She didn't know how it worked. It had been a surprise each time. The first time, it had been activated by her change, and the second time her life was in danger once more, so maybe that was the key? Did she need to be in a life and death situation in order for it to work?

"-ella!"

But no. The next two times it had been when she was calming down. There was no more danger with a sobbing vampire on top of her, just grief. There was no danger out here in the woods, just companionship. Though, both of those times it had happened around Irina, so maybe that meant something?

Bella shook her head. That couldn't be it. Irina showed up after the first two, so that wasn't the common factor here. Then what the hell was causing her to fade out like this?

If she couldn't find the cause, she'd focus on the symptoms.

Bella could remember the tingling in her fingers that always signaled that her power was activating, and she tried to recreate it. She focused on the tips of her fingers, willing some kind of change.

When that yielded no results, she brought to her mind the failing of her vision that always accompanied the power. The fuzziness around the edges, and the tilting of the world, like gravity had changed and up was down and the only thing holding her to the ground was the thing on the other side of her power. She tried to hear the ringing in her ears, the rush in her veins, the warmth that flowed through her chest when she 'left'.

It wasn't working.

Bella threw up her hands in frustration.

She needed this to work. She needed to be able to control this new power of hers, this thing tied so inexplicably to her that she was thrown about due to a will that didn't even feel like her own. She needed to get back to Didyme, to warn her of her brother or something, anything, to help her. What good was she if she couldn't control the only thing that was solely hers. She wasn't some puppet, and she refused to be treated like one.

She'd been treated like a puppet her whole life, actually.

Bella curled in on herself at the thought, her shoulders hunching and her hands coming up to instinctively curl around the vulnerable skin of her stomach.

Her mother had treated her like a puppet, or a housekeeper at the best of times. She loved her mother, she really did, but she wasn't really a mother to her. Mother's take care of their children. They teach them how to be a good person, how to survive in the world. They cook for them and clean up their messes when they make a mistake and they comfort them when they're sad. They 'mother' them.

Renée had never 'mothered' Bella. If anything, Bella had 'mothered' her. Bella had cooked when Renée was passed out in her bed after a long night of drinking and partying with her friends. Bella had cleaned the house when Renée had brought home a new man. Bella had comforted Renée when her latest boyfriend left, claiming they were looking for a partnership, not a child in their relationship. Bella used to think that they were referring to her when they said that, but now she knew better.

She'd been Renée's puppet. She'd let her control her and shape her into this person who'd had to grow up far too fast to take care of her.

Edward had treated her like a puppet, too.

She'd fallen for the charming boy with little less than a thought. He'd swept her off her feet, literally in some cases, and provided everything she'd needed.

When Bella needed a coat, he'd give her the coat off her back. When Bella needed shelter, he'd taken her to his home and made her family. When Bella needed friends, he'd isolated her from the ones she had because he 'knew better' and they were just too dangerous. She was so fragile after all, she couldn't be friends with a shifter. She should be friensd with his family because they could, of course, snap her like a twig.

But time and time again, he came back. He came with words of how stupid she was to want to be near him. He brought her to beautiful places just so he could show her just how dangerous he truly was. Bringing her to the meadow had been a ploy to scare her. He'd talked about how no one could hear her from that secluded paradise.

He'd raced around, showing her just how much faster he was. 'She could never outrun him. How stupid of her to ever think she could.'

He'd uprooted a tree with his bare hands, showing her his strength. 'She could never beat him. He could beat her down in a second with his strength.'

He'd shed his clothed, showing her his skin. He was 'the perfect predator. She could never get away. She would never even want to.'

Everything Edward had ever done, from the constant belittling to the scare tactics, had been to control her. He'd used her like a puppet, pulling the strings all the while that he issued declarations of love.

Bella was real fucking tired of being controlled.

A furious roar echoed through the trees, and birds took flight, escaping the wrath of the predator beneath them.

Hands settled cautiously on either side of Bella's face, then, and Irina's face entered Bella's line of vision.

"Bella!" Irina practically shouted in her face. "What is going on?"

Bella just looked into the golden eyes in front of her with her own sad red ones, and Irina gently pulled the newborn until Bella's face was securely nestled in the crook of her neck, and she started sobbing as the older vampire rocked her back and forth. Bella's hands grabbed at Irina's arms, her fingers digging in and acting as her anchor.

"Shh." Irina cooed at Bella as she smoothed her hair away from her face. "Whatever it is, it will be okay."

Bella rubbed her face against the woman's neck as she shook her head. "I j-just _left._ " The words barely made it out in between her heaving breaths. "She's in trouble, and I just _left her there._ " Bella couldn't force anymore words out and just continued to sob, the tears in her eyes never dropping down her face.

They spent almost an hour in that position until Bella finally managed to get a reign on her emotions and rubbed unnecessarily at her eyes. She glanced up at the blonde vampire crouched next to her, offering an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry about that." Bella said, and even while Irina was shaking her head, she continued. "I've just had kind of a rough time lately, and I guess everything just hit me."

"You have nothing to apologize for, as I've told you many times now." A small smile let Bella know that Irina truly believed what she was saying, and Bella resigned herself to quietly making up for all the harm she'd caused, albeit unintentionally. "May I ask, what was that reaction?"

Bella froze up, her vampire muscles making her look more like a statue than a living being.

"I…" Bella began, only to trail off when she couldn't think of no good explanation for her actions. She couldn't really say 'oh, there's this kid in ancient Greece who's just the sweetest, but her brother's Satan incarnate. Oh, and also he'd the King of the Vampires.' Bella settled for shrug, her eyes peering down at the dirt below her.

"Alright, then." Irina stood from the ground, still gazing down at the newborn. "Maybe you could tell me later?" She questioned, softly.

Bella gave a small smile in response before lifting herself to stand as well, and the two of them took off toward the house. Before they reached the house, though, Bella wondered at how much time had passed this time around. She'd been gone for the longest amount of time, yet, but Irina was waiting for her in the forest alone. She would probably have to have a long talk with Charlie when she got back.

"Irina," Bella spoke while they ran, and the tilt of the blonde's head let her know she was listening, "how long was I gone?"

"Not that long," Irina replies, gliding gracefully over the forest floor, "Just under five minutes."

Bella's feet halted, and she actually had to stop herself from running straight into a tree.

"What?!"

OOOOOO

The rest of the Denali coven were in the living room of the Cullen's house when they arrived, and they were greeted with smiles all around, surprising Bella.

"Took you two long enough." Kate spoke from her position, laid out across the couch. All the other seats in the house were taken, and Bella foresaw a lengthy conversation taking place once everyone got settled, so she leaned up against the wall opposite the couch, steeling herself. Irina, however, took one look at her prone sister and leapt onto her stomach. Kate let out an exaggerated huff of air, complaining about Irina being too heavy, which prompted Irina to flick her sister on the nose, starting an all-out war of poke's and playful comments.

"Alright, settle down." Tanya said, gazing at her sisters fondly. "I believe we have a few things to discuss." Her eyes settled on Bella at that, and the newborn had to stop herself from gulping like a cartoon at the weight behind that stare.

"Right." Bella nodded. "So…" She had absolutely no idea where to start this conversation. The woman Bella hadn't spoken to yet, who introduced herself as 'Carmen', apparently knew where she wanted the story to start.

"You know the Cullens. Edward came to visit us a while ago, and he informed us of a human girl back in his town that his sister, Alice, had visions about. You were that human? Isabella Swan?" At Bella's nod, Carmen continued. "And you said that the Cullens didn't change you, Laurent did." She spoke the name with an apologetic glance at Irina, but the blonde didn't seem too upset at the mention. "So then, the obvious question here would be 'where did the Cullens go?'"

Bella flinched, and she knew it was seen by every vampire in the room, but her thoughts had already begun a downward spiral. Apparently, they were jumping straight into this. She should have expected it, and honestly, she did, but it didn't make it hurt any less to be prepared for it.

"They left." The whispered words drew a few concerned frowns from the vampires in the room, but she soldiered on knowing she'd have to give more than that to stem their curiosity. "I don't know where they went, they just left." She took a shuddery breath, not seeing many of the vampires in the room looking to each other, concern plain in their faces for the obvious hurt the girl in front of them was in.

"I…It started on my birthday. Sort of. Or kind of when James and his coven came after me." Bella began her story. "Edward had always been a bit…overprotective." She heard a scoff from somewhere in the room, but ignored it despite her agreement behind the sentiment. He'd been a bit more than 'overprotective'. "When I just managed to survive one vampire attack, he began to try and 'limit the danger in my life'." Bella mimicked the words her boyfriend had used with derision.

"It started by limiting my exposure to Jasper. Jasper had always had some trouble trying to control his thirst, and Edward was worried he'd snap and attack me, so I was never left alone with Jasper. In fact, I barely saw him at all. No one seemed to think that 'practice makes perfect' was an appropriate phrase here, and Jasper was practically reintroduced to the smell of my blood each time I saw him, instead of building up a tolerance.

"So, my birthday was coming up, and Alice, of course, wanted to throw a huge party." Bella gave a sad smile at the thought of her best friend. "I always hated big parties, so I told them no, but you can't exactly say no to Alice. She's got puppy dog eyes." Another snort from Kate. "So, I got the party, and I actually really enjoyed it. There was a lot of awkwardness, mainly from me because I'm not the smoothest operator, but overall the party was really fun. Until the end of it that is." Bella took another deep breath, clenching her hands together and not making eye contact with any of the Denalis.

"We got to opening the presents, and klutz that I am, I got a paper cut." Bella's jaw worked as she struggled to keep her tone calm, but it started to grow heavy with the knot in her throat. "Jasper had already had the 'Bella ban', that combined with his empath abilities, and he felt all the bloodlust in the room. I'm Edward's singer. Jasper felt all of that and more, so I'm not angry at him for his reaction.

"Jasper snapped, and he came at me. Edward moved into the way and ended up doing more harm than good, because he shoved me back into a glass table, and I cut my arm pretty badly. Long story short, all the vampires had to leave, apart from Carlisle, while I got stitched up. My blood used to smell abnormally good, so they were already straining themselves as it was. Anyway, after that, Edward got even weirder about things.

"He was always so cold with me, and I could feel this distance building between us. I noticed that I hadn't seen the other Cullens in a while, but Edward never really explained it, and I trusted him so I didn't question it. Later, when he came over to my house and wanted to take a walk through the woods, I assumed this was him trying to be romantic, and that things were finally looking up." Bella let out a hollow laugh, startling a few of the Denalis. "I was wrong.

"He brought me out into the woods, and when he stopped, he turned to me with this blank face, and I knew something was wrong. I…I asked what was wrong and he just told me that 'we are leaving, Bella.' I of course immediately told him that I would need time to pack. I started thinking about ways to tell Charlie, or if I was going to have to fake my own death, when he stopped me. They were leaving, not me. They had decided that I wasn't entertaining enough anymore. They'd gotten bored of their human pet, and the Cullens were leaving me behind."

There were muttered curses coming from multiple mouths in the room, many of which in different languages, but Bella was trapped in the memory.

"He told me that I wasn't good for him. Like that wasn't obvious from the start. I was just this clumsy human, intent on getting hit by a truck of falling down a flight of stairs and breaking my neck before I reached middle age. He was an immortal vampire. I knew I wasn't good for him. I tried to argue, though. I asked what Alice thought about all of this, because I was sure that my best friend, the girl who called me her sister, and Esme, the woman who was a mother to me, would have argued on my behalf. When he told me that they had already left, that they didn't want to say goodbye, it took whatever fight I had left right out of me.

"He left me there, in the middle of the woods, with the parting words that I should take care of myself for Charlie. I ran after him for a little while, but I got lost in the woods, and eventually I just curled up into a ball on the forest floor and cried. I didn't even think about moving, and the temperature was dropping fast. I'd probably still be lying there, decomposing by now, if the Alpha of the wolves, Sam Uley, hadn't found me.

"He picked me up and brought me home to Charlie." Bella let out a breath, having finally managed to say it all out loud. It was almost therapeutic to go over it now. The loss she felt from before lessened now that she had lived with it for a while. Now that she'd come to accept it. "So, yeah. That's it. End of melodramatic story." She gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

"Son of a BITCH!"


	10. Chapter 10

The exclamation broke the heavy silence that lasted only a few moments, and Bella stared at Irina in shock. The blonde's eyes were back to that dark near-black shade that they had reached during their fight near Alaska, and they were locked on Bella.

" _You_ weren't good for _him?!_ " Irina shouted. "After everything you went through with James and then _Laurent_." She spat out his name like a curse. "And he had the audacity to say that _you_ weren't good for _him?_ That bastard nearly got you killed a hundred times over and you still stood by him. What the _hell._ " From there her words switched to a language that Bella couldn't recognize apart from the fact that it sounded a bit like Russian, or maybe German.

Kate rushed over to her sister, rubbing her back and whispering in a soft tone in that same language. The rest of the coven looked a bit shocked at their coven mate's outburst, though many of them had those same dark eyes.

"You'll have to forgive Irina, dear." Carmen spoke, once again shifting attention to her. "She's had a bit of a rough time lately. As have you, from what you've told us." She shook her head with a small sigh. "We all have, honestly."

"If you don't mind, we can continue this discussion tomorrow?" Tanya asked Bella, and Bella could hear that some of the harshness that usually came from the authoritative words had faded as she addressed her softly. "We can't really sleep, but some rest would be appreciated."

"Of course." Bella nodded, turning to the door before hesitating. She bit her lip for a moment before walking over to Irina and giving her a hug. It was a bit awkward given the blonde's sitting position, but she could tell the gesture was appreciated by the gentle squeeze she received in turn. Then she headed out the door.

OOOOOO

The sun was just starting to set when Bella returned home, and she arrived at the same time that Charlie's police cruiser pulled up in the driveway. When Charlie stepped out of his low riding car onto the gravel driveway, he could see the dragging feet and low shoulders that Bella didn't even attempt to hide.

She may have been a sleepless creature of the night, but she was tired.

Neither said anything as they settled down in the bottom floor, Charlie watching from his position leaning against the wall as Bella cooked him some dinner. It smelled exactly like it used to, despite what the Cullens had said it didn't smell like trash or anything, it just didn't hold any of the appeal it had when she had been human.

After sitting down at the table with Charlie chowing down on some Spaghetti across from her, she eventually started to talk.

She talked about this girl that she'd seen, not giving names, and how she'd left her alone with a dangerous brother. Not even Charlie knew about the whole time-travel thing yet, and Bella didn't know if she should tell him. It wasn't that she felt like she needed to keep this a secret from him because he wouldn't accept it, or anything like that. It was more a worry of what might happen, should Edward come back.

Bella might be able to shield her own thoughts from him, but she couldn't shield her father's, and she didn't know if she'd be able to protect him from the level of controlling that Edward would no doubt bring into everything. He always had to get the final say, and he didn't get a say in this.

So, Bella was vague about nearly everything, not giving specific names or dates, not that she knew anywhere close to the exact date except that it was a long time ago if Carlisle's tales of Aro were to be believed.

After she finished explaining, Bella could tell that Charlie was in cop mode already, ready to go find this girl and protect her from Aro, and Bella had to placate him, lest he ask a question that Bella couldn't answer. Finally, he seemed to let it go, grabbing his now-empty dish from the table and squeezing Bella's shoulder as he walked by.

With that off her chest, to some extent at least, Bella made her way up to her room.

She made it to the stair that was the second to the top before her vision tilted again. Bella couldn't even bring herself to be really surprised by it this time, and she let herself fall into the feeling.

OOOOOO

Salt in her nose again.

She hadn't expected this.

Bella jolted up from her position, once again laying on those cliffs by the water. Could it have actually worked? Could she have forced herself to travel back to Didyme in time to save her from her brother?

Before even a millisecond had passed, Bella was in a dead sprint toward the cabin.

The trees were blurry even to her enhanced vision as she winded through them, clipping her shoulder on one and nearly taking the whole tree down in her haste. She didn't know exactly what she was going to do. She was up against the current leader of the vampire world, after all. Or the future leader. Whatever. She didn't have a lot of time to think. The light ahead of her that signaled the end of the tree line caught her eye, and she put on a burst of speed, racing toward it before—

White.

 _No! No, please, not yet. Please! I need more time, just—_

Bella slowly raised her arm, gently grasping the cloth over her face and pulling it away. In front of her was the cabin, but all around the back of the yard there were strings hung from tree to tree holding different pieces of cloth slung over them to dry. _Well. That was embarrassing._

A shaky breath escaped her as the tension dissolved for just a moment, followed by a self-deprecating chuckle. She ran a hand through her hair as she stalked forward, before, once again, her motion was suddenly halted.

A gentle humming sound to her right drifted through the air, settling lightly on her ears, and Bella's eyes drop closed for a moment, almost against her will, as the soft sound makes her shoulders drop with a calm she hadn't felt just moments before. She opened her eyes once more, turning from the cabin to follow the source of that beautiful tune. She passed through a row of hanging cloth, pushing the lightly swaying fabric up a bit for her to pass underneath, and the sight that greeted her stole her unnecessary breath.

Wild brown curls framed a matured face. Cheekbones high and lips so rosy that Bella got stuck there for a moment before dragging her eyes away. Slender hands smoothed out the white fabric in front of her before settling on hips that were hugged by the draping fabric that was twisted around her body, cinched in some places and tied off by a belt that was hidden by a layer of white that just barely shielded it from view, but a faint glint of gold peeked out for a moment, shining in the light.

Bella had never been particularly religious, but if heaven was real, it was missing an angel.

A subtle smile graced Didyme's face, as per usual, and Bella felt herself drawn toward it. She had only managed two slow steps before striking blue eyes turned her direction. A look of disbelieving recognition took over her face, and Didyme's smile grew for a second, before her eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she gazed at Bella.

A slight crease formed in Bella's brow as she took in her friend's shocked state, before she turned her eyes down and looked at her own hands.

They were sparkling in the sunlight. She hadn't even noticed the sunny day in her rush to find Didyme.

She returned her gaze in front of her sheepishly, only to find Didyme still struck still. Bella bit at her lip worriedly before she took a hesitant step forward, hoping to snap her out of it. When Didyme didn't react, she cautiously approach the woman, keeping her eyes locked with her own red ones all the while.

When she finally stood in front of her, Bella tilted her head to the side as she observed Didyme's expression, hoping for some sign that her friend was okay. A moment of silence passed before, slowly, a shaking hand made its way up, hesitating just before Bella's face, as if she was scared to touch her.

Well, that wouldn't do. Bella wouldn't be able to stand it if Didyme was afraid of her. She raised her own hand, gently resting it on top of Didyme's and guiding it that final distance to rest on her face. The warmth of it made her eyes flutter shut, and she let out a sigh before nuzzling into that warmth a bit. A small gasp forced her to reopen her eyes once more.

Those blue eyes were glistening, whether it be from tears of a reflection of Bella's own skin, she didn't know, but she felt an intense need to reassure her friend.

" _Didyme."_ Bella whispered, her tone calming.

" _Bell?_ " Didyme responded, her eyes finally blinking. The grown woman who had once been her very teenage friend looked completely awed by her, and Bella didn't know how to push past the effect her strange skin had on her. She needn't have worried, however, because just as she thought that she had her arms full with a crying woman.

Didyme latched onto the back of her neck with one hand and fisted the fabric of her shirt on her back with the other. Bella quickly wrapped her own arms around the woman, rubbing her back and whispering reassurances in her ear as the shoulder of her shirt grew wet with shed tears. After rocking for a moment, trying not to use too much force so as not to take Didyme's feet out from under her, she pulled back. It was definitely tears in Didyme's eyes this time, and the woman let out a small huff of a laugh, gazing up at Bella. Bella granted her a crooked smile in return.

" _Did you miss me?"_ Bella's smile only stretched further when Didyme playfully slapped at her arm.

" _More than you could know._ " Didyme responded. The cocky smile on Bella's face grew softer at that, and she looked at her friend fondly, reaching up and tucking a stray hair behind her ear, her fingertips lightly grazing her skin. A shiver went through Didyme, and Bella's concern returned. It was a sunny day, but she couldn't really feel temperature much anymore and she didn't know if it was cold or not. She grabbed Didyme's hand, dragging her behind her as she led her friend into the cabin and out of the cold.

This was really Bella's first time inside the cabin, and it had changed a bit. There was a small pile of furs in the far corner, and the strong smell of Didyme that emanated from them confirmed that it was her bed, and it made Bella want to curl up in them and smother herself in that soothing scent.

She had started toward it before a small chuckle behind her stopped her, and she turned to Didyme, offering her a sheepish smile. She was still getting used to the low impulse control that came with her newborn status. Her friend offered her a smile in return, before her face took on a serious expression.

" _Bell,"_ Didyme seemed to hesitate for a moment before steeling herself and continuing, " _Where have you been? You disappeared right before my eyes, and you never returned?"_ She asked the question softly, not accusing, but a slight hint of sadness peaked through, and that's what stopped the lie on Bella's tongue.

She had been ready to say something about being a ghost or a wraith, whichever Didyme seemed to believe she was. She could have easily explained her strange condition on her being a restless spirit, and her friend would have believed her, but something stopped her.

She didn't want to lie.

She wanted to come clean to Didyme and explain everything that was going on with her. She wanted to tell her about the ridiculous past couple of months and the abandonment that started this. She wanted to share her pain with this personification of sunshine and feel the comfort she provided, but she knew there was a limit. She couldn't very well tell her that she was from the future and that she knew her brother through her vampire friends who told her of the cruelty he was capable of. She wanted to tell the truth, but maybe an edited version of the truth was required. Maybe if Didyme believed her, she could start on the path toward protecting her from her brother. If she could believe that she was from the future, she could believe in the future she had known. She could believe that Bella just wanted her safe.

Baby steps.

" _Well, it's a bit of a long story…"_

OOOOOO

The conversation went about as well as could be expected. Didyme didn't seem to fully understand some of what she said, but she believed her when she said she was from the future. She had seen her appear and disappear right before her eyes, so that probably made it a bit easier to believe.

Bella explained how she had no control of it. She went wherever her ability pleased, dragged along by its whims. She told Didyme how she had tried to come back immediately, stressing more that she wanted to see her than she was trying to come back to save her from her brother.

That was another thing. Her brother.

Bella inquired about Aro's absence in the cabin, used to at the very least smelling the lingering scent he left behind, but that trace was gone now. Didyme's face went stony for a moment, her eyes growing dark before she turned a smile on Bella, explaining that her brother had been offered work with a strange man who promised him power. Bella knew this was probably his maker, as the man in the picture hadn't been too old, and Didyme's matured age showed that enough time had passed to put him in the right age limit. She refrained from asking, despite her intense curiosity about the man, when she saw the strain on Didyme's face and the fake smile she flashed her that looked almost like a warning.

Bella found herself answering many questions in the days that followed as she familiarized herself with the ins and outs of Didyme's life in that small cabin. In the morning, they would talk a walk down the path to the cliffs while Didyme asked her about her life, what she was, what her parents were like, what she was interested in. Half of the questions were a bit harder to answer, and when Didyme noticed that Bella would pull away of grow silent during those questions about what she was and such, she would turn the questions to more frivolous things, answering them in turn.

This was how she learned that Didyme's favorite color was gold. Her favorite food was venison stew. She loved sunrises more than sunsets, but she found them both to be beautiful in their own ways.

In the afternoon, when the sun shone directly overhead, more suitors than ever before would make the trek from the village to Didyme's little cabin, and Bella would hide under the furs stifling her giggles as Didyme would try to send them away as politely as possible. Once or twice she would laugh a little too loud, and Didyme would have to cover with a cough, sending away the man before turning back to her and giving her a scolding look before she broke and started laughing with her.

The evenings were comprised of Bella learning how different cooking could be in the time compared to modern times. She was forced to learn new herbs and plants. They didn't have much besides a very small amount of salt that Didyme would use sparingly. Mostly, though, Didyme would use a dagger-looking cooking knife to cut up vegetables for some kind of stew that made up the majority of her meals.

It was during one of these evenings that Bella learned the extent of her control.

It was the fifth night since she had arrived and started to slowly share little bits of information, just enough to show Didyme she was telling the truth while also urging her not to trust her brother. Didyme was cutting the root from a vegetable she'd just pulled from her garden when the sharp blade of the dagger sliced into her finger, and a bead of blood quickly welled to the surface.

Bella was transfixed. The small drop of red stained those slender fingers, and Didyme rushed over to Bella who was, coincidentally, sitting right next to the pile of rags that made up her dirty clothes. Didyme reached for one, bringing the fabric up to her finger, but she never reached it due to the vice-like grip that stopped her. Bella didn't even seem to notice her own actions as she stared at that drop, watching it slowly travel down her finger as she uncurled from her sitting position, standing tall over Didyme with pitch black eyes.

She slowly stalked forward, and Didyme matched her step for step until her progress was halted by the wall. Bella never glanced up to see wide blue eyes as she leaned her head down, bringing her nose right over the finger and sniffed, her mouth filling with venom at the mouthwatering scent.

It had been over a week since she had fed, and she was a newborn. They weren't meant to go without for that long.

Just was the red bead reached the end of her finger, collecting and about to fall, Bella ducked down, her tongue out to catch it. The taste made her eyes roll back as they fluttered shut, and Bella knew she had to have more. She raised back up to the finger and dragged her tongue along it, catching every last drop before wrapping her lips around it. The labored breathing coming from above her barely registered to her mind as focused on that delicious taste as she was.

She sucked gently for a moment, drawing more of that flavor out, before a sound caught her attention. A thundering heart beat drew her away from the finger and she looked up at the source. She rested her ear against the chest of her prey, listening to that beat, and it increased even further as she followed it up to the side of a bared neck.

She could hear that beat just beneath the skin there, pulsing faster than she had ever heard it, and she brought her mouth to the source of it, dragging her bottom lip over the racing pulse before her tongue flicked out, tasting salt and skin and just a hint of something else.

The action caused the beat to go faster, and she pressed her face into the neck, purring in delight, the sound vibrating down the throat and into the chest of her prey, and its legs wobbled below it before collapsing entirely, and the throat was now out of reach as her prey slid along the wall to the ground, and looked up at her with incredibly dark blue eyes.

Blue eyes.

 _Didyme._

Bella froze, the breath in her lungs halting as she stopped breathing, staring down at her friend's wide eyes. She could smell her blood. She could smell her fear. She could smell another scent, increasingly strong and just as appealing as her blood, but Bella couldn't identify it because she was too focused on the other scent.

Fear.

Didyme was afraid of her.

Bella had almost...

Bella ran.

 **OOOOOO**

" **Did you miss me?"**

 **See! I promise I haven't abandoned you! I finally found some free time after midterms and all of my essays, so I finished the chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! If you have any comments, please leave reviews!**


	11. Chapter 11

Bella didn't know exactly where she was going, but as long as it was away from what she had just done, she would keep running. Her feet made hardly a sound on the soft dirt as she raced further from the house than she had ever gone before. She needed to get away.

The look in Didyme's eyes as she had stared up at her from the floor wouldn't leave her mind.

Bella was new to being a vampire. She was new to the bloodlust, the speed, the strength. Most of all, she was new to the fear she could inspire. Billy Black's cautious looks hadn't prepared her for this. She'd thought that she had come to terms with this. With her inhumanity. But this was a startling reminder that being a vampire was more than just blood drinking and shiny skin.

She was what people had nightmares about.

Bella couldn't entirely interpret the look that Didyme had given her before she'd sped away from her shame, but the smell of fear in the air, as overshadowed as it was by blood and that unidentified unique smell, was palpable.

Bella had scared the woman. She had given into the draw of that crimson nectar like Didyme had meant nothing to her.

How could she have done that?

After everything. After vowing to never harm the innocent. The _fucking_ _second_ Didyme spilled one fucking drop of blood and she turns into a mindless beast?

She had attacked her! Bella had literally stalked her into a corner. She'd pushed her up against a wall and licked…

 _Oh my god._

Bella came to a halt as previous events washed over her more fully. She had _licked her blood off her finger?_ Bella's head fell into her hands as she groaned. Now she had to deal with the overwhelming embarrassment as well as the shame of nearly hurting her friend.

When she lifted her head from her hands, Bella finally took in her surroundings. She had run all the way into the town that was near Didyme's house.

The night sky overhead hid Bella from view as she skittered along the edge of a house to hide further in the shadows. There weren't too many people out and about now, but Bella didn't want to take too many risks. It was a larger village than Bella would have expected, but, she supposed, all of those suitors for Didyme had to have come from somewhere.

Bella wandered around the town, sticking to the shadows under roofs and along walls, but she didn't come across anything that took her attention away from her thoughts. She briefly considered heading back to the house by the cliffs, but a flash of Didyme staring up at her from the floor made Bella shake her head to remove the image and continue exploring the town.

After not too long, Bella had circled the entire town. She dug her feet into the dirt, staring down the path that would lead her back to Didyme. She didn't know if she could face her. After nearly attacking her, nearly killing her? How could she just walk back up to her with nothing but an 'I'm sorry'. It just didn't feel right.

Luckily for Bella, a sound in town caught her attention and drew her away from her decision for a moment. A stifled scream came from a small house on the edge of the town, and Bella drifted over to it, wondering if some poor inhabitant of this village was having some nightmare.

The sound came again, muffled by more than just walls, and it was followed by sounds of shuffling and something else. It sounded like maybe the person was thrashing around in their bed. Bella approached the door to the home, opening just a fraction so she could slide inside, but not letting it make a sound for fear of waking up the owner and having to deal with hiding before she was seen.

Another small noise and more thrashing sounded from the small room to Bella's left, and she approached the door to it silently. She felt a bit creepy, sneaking into someone's house like this, but she needed something to keep her away from Didyme, and she was getting desperate. Her curiosity kept her in the house.

The sound came from behind the door again, this time followed by something Bella wasn't expecting. Another voice sounded, making a small shushing sound, followed by some words that Bella hadn't learned yet. She felt rather stupid for not noticing that there were two heartbeats coming from the room. The one with the nightmare already had someone there to console them. With that thought, Bella turned back to the door, intent on finding some other distraction for the night.

Then she smelled it. Fear.

Her body stiffened up as she took it in. She knew it was fear, both from some primal instinct that had awakened when she became a vampire, and from experience with Didyme earlier that night. That made sense, she supposed. Whatever that nightmare was about must've been really terrifying to that person if this much fear was leaking out of them. It was clear even from a room away.

Another muffled scream and a 'thump' and more whispered words struck Bella still. The whispers that Bella had confused with comfort had a different tone. Less calming. More threatening.

If Bella had blood, it would have run cold. Then boiled.

A rage Bella didn't know she had took her over, and she zipped back to the door to the bedroom without even a whisper of a sound. Opening the door, she practically glided over to the sole bed, seeing one much larger body on top of a smaller, struggling body.

Her face contorted in a snarl, her eyes pitch black and her fingers curled into claws as she reached the bed. The wide, tear filled eyes of the woman on the bed met Bella's, and somehow grew wider. Bella barely registered this as she reached down and grabbed the large man by the back of his neck, yanking him up and away from the woman on the bed. His startled shout was cut off as Bella covered his mouth with her hand.

Even through the rage, she knew that leaving a dead body in the middle of this poor woman's home would lead to questions, so Bella ran. The man was surprisingly easy to carry, weighing almost nothing to Bella. He squirmed in her grasp the entire way to the tree line and clawed at the hand she had around his mouth as she pulled him deeper into the trees.

When she'd covered a decent distance, Bella snapped.

She released the man, and he stumbled forward onto his knees before shoving himself up and whirling around to face the creature that had abducted him. After catching sight of Bella, eyes black and face the image of wrath incarnate, the man scrambled backwards, nearly tripping and falling back into a tree.

The second he touched the bark, Bella was on him.

She ran forward, appearing before him faster than he could blink, and grabbed him by the hair, yanking his head to the side to expose his neck to her. She could feel the man pushing at her, trembling beneath her grasp like Didyme had, but the smell of fear that poured off him was different than the one Bella smelled from Didyme. And even if it had been the same, Bella couldn't bring herself to feel any remorse.

She was only ridding the world of another monster.

With that thought, Bella's teeth pierced the side of the man's throat, directly over the jugular.

And she drank.

She could hear waning words coming from the man as she drained the life out of him, and Bella recognized them as prayers. When the words finally stopped, and blood stopped flowing into Bella's mouth, she lowered the body to the ground beneath the large tree she had pinned him to.

She stood there for a moment, staring down at his body as the red haze that had taken over her vision with the rage receded. All things considered, she'd given the rapist a merciful death.

She tilted her head back to the sky, a satisfying fullness in her stomach, and let the light of the moon wash over her.

The more aware of the world she became, the more aware she was of the thundering sound that came from nearby. Bella lazily tilted her head back and to the side, glancing toward the source of the sound, and was struck dumb.

She hadn't even noticed.

She'd been too preoccupied with getting the man away from that woman that she hadn't paid any attention to where she was going. Maybe it was instinct, or maybe it was some subconscious draw, but her feet had brought her back to the cabin.

And there, 10 feet from where she had just drained the life from a man, stood Didyme.

Bella couldn't move. She knew, logically, that she should offer some explanation. She knew she should say something to try and get Didyme to understand what had happened. She could explain that she hadn't just gone to town to pick a random man to kill, but her voice wouldn't escape from her throat.

Maybe it would be better this way. If Didyme was afraid of her, she wouldn't be in danger from her. It was best that she knew the kind of nightmare that Bella really was.

She watched Didyme's wide eyes travel from her own unmoving body, to the corpse on the ground, and back again. The thundering sound grew louder, and Bella recognized it as Didyme's heartbeat.

The woman stared at Bella for a moment, swallowing past what Bella guessed was fear or disgust, and Bella watched her throat move in silence.

" _This is what I am."_

The words seemed to startle Didyme, breaking the heavy silence between them, and those blue eyes locked on Bella's dark red ones. Bella tried to keep her face blank of the panic she was feeling, the absolute conflict waging within her as she struggled with wanting Didyme to not hate her and needing her to know how dangerous she was.

A small crinkle appeared in Didyme's brow as she stared at those eyes, and she swallowed once more, the sound loud to Bella's enhanced hearing, especially in the silence, and then she seemed to make a decision.

Didyme took a step toward her.

Bella didn't know what to do. This woman was walking right toward a predator, and the predator in Bella needed her to know that.

A strange, primitive growl rose up in Bella's throat, and she let it free into the night air, making Didyme freeze once more, but only for a moment. Then she continued her slow steps toward Bella. Each step prompted the growling to grow a bit louder, a bit lower.

When Didyme finally got within touching distance of Bella, her body was practically shaking with the sound. She stood before the vampire, her heart still beating wildly in her chest as she stared at the darkening red eyes before her.

Bella scented the air again, expecting the fear she found there, but it was not quite as strong as she expected from the rapid pounding of her heart, and her confusion just barely showed on her face. She looked back at the body on the ground, and Didyme's eyes were drawn to it as well.

" _I kill to live."_ Bella's words made Didyme's blue eyes snap to hers once more. " _I kill people. I feed on their blood."_ Bella glanced at Didyme's finger, now bandaged, and heard her heartbeat pick up. " _This is what I am."_

Didyme was staring at her bandaged finger, cradling her hand to her chest protectively.

" _I don't know what you thought I was, Didyme."_ And Didyme's eyes were on her again at the use of her name. " _But I am a monster."_

The last thing she expected to hear in response to that was a scoff.

" _A monster?"_ Didyme questioned, letting her hand fall to her hip as she stared Bella down. " _A monster that helps me cook dinner?_ " A single eyebrow lifted, and Bella's stillness was broken as she fidgeted. " _A monster that keeps me company? A monster that giggles like a child and hides in my furs when suitors come to the house?"_

" _I don't giggle—"_

" _A monster that kills a man who was well known throughout the town for taking the women he wants, disregarding the women's choice in the matter?"_ Didyme turned to glare at the body on the ground, spitting towards it and shocking Bella. " _Alexius was more animal than man."_

With that, she turned back to Bella, stepping forward. Slowly, Bella watched as a slim hand came up, fingertips just resting on her face before Didyme rested her palm against Bella's cheek. Bella couldn't help it, she closed her eyes to the feeling.

" _You are not human._ " Bella opened her eyes, realizing that she had leaned into the contact, and her eyes met Didyme's. Didyme was smiling. " _But you are the furthest thing from a monster._ "

A shuddering breath left Bella's body, and she swayed forward, caught in the draw of this woman. She'd tried to scare her, but that hadn't worked. The only thing she had left was self-deprecation and humor. She let out a weary chuckle. " _Then what am I?"_

Didyme's blue eyes were closer now, and they shifted between Bella's own ruby ones and something just below. Her other hand came up, framing the other side of Bella's face and she took one last step to close the last bit of distance between them. A hesitant smile tugged at her lips, and Bella watched it. She could feel the warmth radiating off of the magnetizing woman, and she closed her eyes to bask in the feeling of it. Bella's own hands came up to rest on Didyme's hips without her prompting, and a stuttering sigh left Didyme's lips.

" _You're my Bell."_ The words were whispered so close to her.

Before Bella could open her eyes, she felt a warm, subtle pressure on her lips. She didn't know if it was possible to feel lightheaded, but Bella nearly swayed into that warmth, seeking that pleasant pressure. A heartbeat, not her own, beat loudly in her ears, but Bella felt no thirst for blood at that moment.

Peace had settled over her.

She needed more. Her hands, laying still on Didyme's hips, crept around her back and pulled Didyme's body against her own. The feeling of being flush against that warmth was heady, nearly intoxicating, and the gasp that came from the woman was neatly swallowed by her own mouth.

The lips against her own trembled, and Bella opened her mouth to lick at Didyme's bottom lip before sucking it into her mouth. That caused the rest of her body to tremble, too. She didn't entirely know what she was doing, but that supple lip and the taste of her pushed her forward, backing Didyme into the tree opposite the one she'd had that man pinned to earlier.

Didyme let out a small whimper as her body made contact with the tree, and she arched against Bella's body, her hands moving to clutch at her back and hold her to her. The sound stirred a kind of frenzy within Bella, completely different to the one caused by bloodlust. The heat from the woman that writhed between her and the tree seeped into her, and she craved to hear more sounds come from those soft lips.

It wasn't until Didyme bit her lip, one hand pulling at Bella's hip to pull her more firmly against her, that Bella released her own moan into the night air. She pressed her hips forward into Didyme, rolling them against the woman and eliciting a whine from her as Didyme's head fell back against the tree with a 'thunk'. Bella trailed open mouthed kiss along her jawline and down her neck, stopping at the thundering pulse beneath her lips, and Didyme froze.

Bella hovered there, her body pressing Didyme's now still one into a tree, waiting for a few moments before she very gently pressed a kiss there.

Didyme melted against her, and Bella let her head drop against Didyme's shoulder as her hands returned to rest lightly on the woman's hips. Didyme reached up, under Bella's arms and grabbed onto both of her shoulders, holding her there. She turned and pressed her lips to the crown of Bella's head before speaking.

" _It's been a long night."_ She whispered against Bella's hair. " _I think it's time to get some rest."_ Bella couldn't respond beyond nodding her head into Didyme's shoulder, then she moved back a step to let the woman step away from the tree.

Didyme glanced at the body. " _We'll deal with that in the morning."_ And she grabbed Bella's wrist and led her back to the cabin, Bella allowing herself to be guided by the gentle pressure. She opened the door, holding it for Bella to pass through without letting go of her. Once she closed the door behind them, she trailed her grip down to Bella's hand, entwining their fingers and leading her toward the pile of furs.

Bella glanced at the bed cautiously, wondering what exactly Didyme expected tonight, and the woman must've seen the look on her face because she let out a quite chuckle and pulled her onto the bed with her. " _I'm tired, my Bell. Lay with me."_

Bella gently lay next to Didyme, slowly relaxing her body into the furs before glancing at the woman next to her. Didyme's startling blue eyes gazed back, warmer than she'd ever seen them, and she brought a hand up to trace the curve of her cheekbone with her thumb. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she leaned into Bella, resting her head in the crook of Bella's neck as she settled in. Bella wrapped a questioning arm around the woman, smiling when Didyme only hummed contentedly, and pulled her closer.

Didyme's breath slowly even out as her heart slowed, and Bella stared up at the roof of the house with a goofy smile on her face as she cuddled the sleeping woman. The peace of the quite night settled into her, bringing her into a relaxed state as she closed her eyes that was the closest she'd gotten to sleeping since she'd become a vampire. It was incredibly calming.

The calm however, was broken when Bella's eyes shot wide once more.

 _Holy Shit. I kissed Didyme._

* * *

… **.please don't hate me. IM BACK. Was this enough to stem the tide of rage I can actually feel from not posting in nearly a year?**


	12. Chapter 12

Bella wished she could say that she had a productive night, but, if she was being honest, she'd spent most of the night staring up at the ceiling feeling a conflicting mix of comfort coming from the person laying next to her and swelling panic from within herself.

It was a full range of emotions. There was embarrassment, heavy and confusing. She'd pulled an Edward, trying to go all 'woe is me, I'm such a monster.', and Didyme was having none of it. Bella was glad the woman had managed to snap her out of that line of thought, she didn't know what she'd do if she became the broody vampire stereotype. And Didyme…

She'd _kissed_ her.

Bella was used to living in somewhat of a whirlpool of anxiety and bewilderment, what with teenage hormones having taken up the last few years, and then all of this vampire crap, but one thing she never thought she'd have to deal with is this new realization. _She'd kissed Didyme._ She couldn't tell if the stunned thought that kept repeating in her head stemmed from the fact that Didyme was a woman, the softest, kindest woman that Bella had ever met, or if it was the fact that _she was from a different time._

Bella could hardly believe that she'd allowed herself to become so complacent.

She had to be nearly _a thousand_ years into the past! And instead of discovering how her powers worked, or, hell, exploring what life was like a thousand years in the past, she'd spent all her time following a human woman around like a puppy. Should she be ashamed of herself?

A quiet sigh emanated from the sleeping figure that lay curled up at her side, and the thought washed away with it. Bella turned her head to gaze at Didyme's relaxed face. She couldn't bring herself to regret that. Not even a little bit. She may not have known the woman long, but the connection she felt between the two of them was instantaneous; it pulled Bella toward the woman in ways she could hardly understand. Like when she kissed her.

She _kissed_ her.

Bella's eyes drifted down Didyme's face, lingering on those full lips, just slightly parted from sleep. As another sigh left Didyme, Bella whipped her head back up toward the ceiling, feeling like she would be blushing if she still had blood in her veins. She needed to snap out of whatever this was. There was too much going on to linger on whatever kind of panic this was. She'd deal with it another time.

That brought Bella to another feeling that was in the strange mix. Worry.

She didn't know how much time she had left.

Bella had been lucky so far, and she wondered what it meant that her time in the past has been longer and longer with each trip. As much as she enjoyed the company of the woman at her side, she didn't think she could handle living a thousand years into the past, stalking around a cabin in the woods for the rest of her life.

And Charlie. Oh god. What was he thinking now? Bella had been fluttering in and out of his life since the Cullens had first showed up, paying more attention to the mysterious family than her own flesh and blood, and it shamed her now. And now that she'd finally realized it, she was thrown about through time with the smallest of warnings. She couldn't bare to leave him alone again. She needed to get back.

But there was something she needed to do, first.

Bella hadn't forgotten her mission. She hadn't forgotten what had caused her to pull so hard at this period of time, to try and bring herself back to the cabin in the middle of the woods with the woman from a thousand years in the past. She had to warn Didyme about her brother.

Bella's jaw clenched as she stared at the ceiling, watching as the slow light of dawn colored the room around her until, finally, she felt the woman at her side begin to stir. Didyme shifted, stretching up against Bella, and the action caused Bella to swallow at the feel of the other woman before she saw blue eyes open to look at her. A small smile graced Didyme's lips, and a look of awe entered her eyes as she gazed into Bella's.

" _I thought it might have been a dream."_ Didyme's voice was husky with sleep, and Bella fought off a shiver at the sound. She bit her lip as she felt a smile take over her face without her permission.

" _A good dream?"_ Bella questioned, the shy note in her voice peeking through.

Didyme's smile widened. " _The best."_ And she leaned in, slowly moving until her nose brushed against Bella's, and Bella jolted away, standing at the side of the bed before Didyme could react. At the look of hurt in Didyme's eyes, Bella stuttered.

" _Wait. Wait. That wasn't—I need to talk to you about something."_ Bella wrung her hands together, another habit she'd yet to lose from her human life. " _It's important."_

Didyme's brow scrunched in confusion, but she sat up in the bed facing Bella and gestured for her to continue.

"—" Bella opened her mouth and closed it again with a snap. She didn't know how she was going to explain this. " _I have told you where I am from."_ At Didyme's nod, she continued. " _And you know I must go back?"_ Another, much more hesitant nod, accompanied by an impossible to read look on Didyme's face followed. " _Well, where I am from, there are…others like me. Many others."_ Didyme looked more confused by the topic. " _Some of those are just random people, like me, who became what we are through circumstance or however, but there are some that are much more well known."_ Bella chanced a hesitant glance toward Didyme before continuing. " _There are…royalty among my kind. Kings. I have never met them in person, but I have heard a few tales of them from some friends of mine. There is one bit of information about them that I received from an…acquaintance that worries me._

" _These kings are not good people. They are, from what I know, rulers who seek power simply to rule. To have power. They don't care about the lives of their subjects, and even less for those unlike us."_ She spared a look at Didyme, whose eyebrows were slowly creeping toward her hairline. "… _I have no idea how to say this."_

" _Are you in danger?"_ Didyme asked, her voice hesitant and concerned.

" _What? No. Well, I mean technically I might be?"_ Bella shrugged, but at the look of growing worry on Didyme's face she continued, " _This isn't about me. This is about you."_

" _Am I in danger?"_

" _No! Yes. Maybe."_ Bella could tell Didyme was trying to be patient, but Bella had even confused herself with that one. " _There is absolutely no good way to say this, alright? Cause I have been trying, but it will be confusing and painful no matter what I do."_

" _Bell, just tell me what is wron—"_

" _Your brother is dangerous."_

Didyme's mouth snapped shut as she stared in complete bewilderment at the vampire in front of her. Bella tried not to flinch at her own bluntness.

" _My brother…is dangerous."_ Didyme said the words like she was testing them out, scanning Bella's face. Bella could only nod. " _I'm sorry, I'm failing to understand what my brother has to do with this conversation."_ Bella opened her mouth to respond, but Didyme held up her hand, steamrolling on. " _And how could you possibly know what my brother is like?"_

" _Wait, Didyme I swear—"_

" _He is MY brother."_ The harsh tone stunned Bella silent. This was the first time she'd truly seen Didyme upset with her. " _My brother, who you have never met, is dangerous?"_ Didyme stood from the bed, stepping up to Bella. " _And this, coming from you? I watched you kill a man just last night!"_ She poked a finger at Bella's chest, and while Bella knew Didyme couldn't physically harm her, she flinched from the impact of the words. " _My brother raised me! He was there for me after our father was taken from us."_

" _That's what I'm trying to tell you—"_

" _And you want to take him away from me, too?"_ Didyme's eyes scrunched up in an expression of pain before she turned on her heal and stalked out the door.

" _No, wait! Didyme!"_ Bella raced out the door after her. " _I'm not trying to take him from you, I swear. I'm just trying to tell you what he's hiding."_

At that, Didyme whirled around. " _What_ _ **he's**_ _hiding?"_ She stalked up to Bella. " _How dare you."_ Her voice was as soft as a whisper, but it rattled something deep inside of Bella's chest. " _My brother is not the one hiding things from me, Bell. I went along with your story of coming from a later time because I have seen how different you are. I have seen the sun on your skin, and I know you to be something more, but you have lied to me since the moment you met me."_ Her voice slowly rose in volume as she spoke. " _What are you doing here, Bell? Why did you come to our home? How did you even get here? Where is your family? Do you have a family? Is your name even Bell?"_

Bella flinched at that, and Didyme's face spasmed at the reaction. " _Is it?"_ Bella's eyes dropped to the dirt path below her feet. " _Look at me!"_ She painfully dragged her eyes back up to the woman in front of her that was looking at her with something painful written across her face. _Betrayal._ " _It isn't, is it."_ Didyme wasn't really asking.

" _It's part—"_ Bella couldn't get more than half way through before Didyme's shoulder started shaking, and she watched in horror as the woman began to cry.

" _You,"_ Didyme wiped a tear away with the back of her hand, " _You come into my life with all your mystery, and I can't help but be drawn to you. It would be impossible to ignore. You appeared after my father died, when I needed someone to talk to, and I thought that was you. I thought maybe the gods had heard my prayers and sent you to me. But you leave. You leave right when I need you and I waited years for you to come back, and then you say this?"_ A swallowed sob strangled the next words, but Didyme seemed to force them out. " _It would have been better if you had never come here at all."_

" _No."_ The word was a desperate plea as it fell from Bella's lips. " _No, Didyme, you don't mean that. I never meant—"_

Bella's hands tingled.

 _Dear god, please no._

Didyme was looking at the trees, seemingly searching for something for a moment before her eyes landed on the crumpled body of Alexius, still laying underneath the cover of the large tree.

Bella's vision blurred at the edges. She tried to get a word out, but her mouth wouldn't move. It was like her entire body had frozen. Ever so slowly, she tried to regain control of her hand as panic began to fill her.

Didyme let out a tired sigh. " _I think it would be best if you just…"_

Bella's hand entered her field of vision, trembling fiercely as it reached out to Didyme, ever so slowly closing the distance.

The world tilted.

" _Just go."_

Her fingertips were less than an inch away from Didyme.

 _Please. Please don't make me go. Whatever is controlling this, please. Just let me-_

The world faded to white.

* * *

Bella stomped a hole in the top stair of the staircase.

She stumbled forward a few feet, stopping at the entrance to her room, and dropped to her knees. Vampires didn't technically need to breathe, but the air that rushed into her lungs felt more than necessary as she clutched at her heaving chest.

 _God damn it. She had been so close!_

Close to what though? Bella shifted from her knees to her side, then turned so she was sitting with her back up against her door. She was close to making contact with Didyme, but what then? She would've disappeared one way or another, whether it be today or in a couple weeks. Bella was never meant to stay there. Bella knew that. She acknowledged that her trips were temporary.

Still.

There was an empty feeling in her chest that pulled at her with each pointless breath. And she hadn't even managed to get Didyme to listen to her! She'd said that her brother was dangerous, but she didn't get to explain as to how. Bella sighed. At least she said something. Whether or not Didyme appreciated her candor, she deserved to know the truth.

Bella would just be more persuasive next time she saw her.

With that thought in mind, Bella stood from her spot on the floor and opened her door, making her way into her empty room. As she entered, her phone buzzed in her pocket, and Bella pulled it out to reveal 5 missed messages. After checking the date and noticing that is was only evening on the day after she left, Bella went through the messages. 2 were from Jacob, telling her that Sam wanted her to meet up with the council and talk about either extending the Cullen's treaty to include her, or creating a new one. They needed it in writing, apparently. 2 more came from Charlie, checking in once he realized that Bella had disappeared again.

She sent off a message letting him know she was alright before moving on to the final messages. They were both from unknown numbers. The first read 'We need to speak to you at your earliest convenience. -Tanya'. Bella saved her number in her phone before responding, asking if they wanted her to head over to the Cullen's' house. Her confusion about how Tanya had gotten her number was dispelled at the second message. 'Yo we got ur # from fido. -Kate'.

Bella didn't fight the smirk that appeared on her face at Kate's nickname for Jacob. She sent a message to Jacob, asking him when the council wanted to meet with her, only subtly mentioning not giving out her number to strangers, and received a response almost immediately.

'Head over. I told the council to expect you.'

Bella bit her lip, running her hand through her hair. She wasn't so sure this meeting was going to be all sunshine and rainbows, and she really didn't want to have to deal with that after the day she's already had, but she sighed and stood from the bed. She needed to do this eventually, and putting it off would probably only make it worse.

After leaving a note for Charlie on the counter, telling him where she was heading, Bella pulled on her 'disguise' of sunglasses, a hat, and a scarf that wrapped around the lower half of her face, and she made her way over to Jacob's house.

She was not expecting the sight that greeted her at Jacob's house.

At least 20 cars were parked along and around the driveway, with dirt bikes and motorcycles filling in the gaps between them. Bella could hear the sounds of laughter and the smell of barbeque coming from the back of the house, so she slowly made her way over. The pack was spread out around a campfire, many of them holding sticks with more than one hotdog skewered on the end over the flames. Sitting among them were what Bella assumed to be the council members: Harry Clearwater, Billy Black, Quil Sr., etc. Mostly, it seemed like the 'coucnicl' was made up of the parents and grandparents of the wolf pack. Jacob looked up from his hotdog, which had caught on fire, and saw her.

"Bella!" He shoved the crispy hotdog down his throat in seconds as he made his way over to her. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only person to have noticed her. As soon as her name rang out, a stiffness settled into the council members. Most of them watching her warily, others with obvious distrust. Some even bore their disgust plainly on their faces.

 _Oh, this is going to go great._

She let Jacob lead her over to the fire, sitting down between him and Sam Uley, who gave her a firm nod before turning back to the woman at his side that Bella noticed had some serious scars on her face. She turned away before she started staring, not wanting to be rude, and looked directly into the eyes of Billy Black across the fire.

She was expecting to see the wariness still there, but the look of grief was gone. Maybe Jacob had managed to talk some sense into his old man, after all. Before too long, a hush went around the fire, and the jolly mood shifted into a more serious one as Billy began to speak.

"You all know the legends of our people, so just this once I will spare a repeat lesson." Bella could here a small yet triumphant 'yes!' come from the log behind her, where she knew Seth was sitting. "We are all here tonight to discuss more important matters." His eyes returned to Bella. "Bella Swan, daughter to my friend, Chief Swan, had become a Cold One." The silence that followed the rather obvious statement was tenser than Bella could have expected.

"The treaty with the Cullens is void, then. They've turned a human!" A member of the council, unnamed to Bella so far, spoke out rather aggressively. "This is an act of war!" A few murmurs of agreement followed from other council members.

Billy held up his hand and they went silent once more. "The Cullens did not break the treaty, and they were not here to turn Bella. Another Cold One came into their abandoned territory and attacked her with intent to kill. He was stopped by our Protectors," a nod to Sam, "but not before he had already bitten her. We are not here to discuss the breaking of one treaty, but the creation of another."

"Can we not just extend the previous treaty with the Cullens to include young Bella?" Quil Sr. spoke with a calm voice.

"The treaty we have with the Cullens is specific in certain terms." Sam answered. "They cannot bite a human or cross into our territory without breaking it. They treaty we will create with Bella will be different. She will be able to cross into the reservation without breaking it, as she is friends with many here, and the border prevents us from doing our jobs adequately, as previous experience has shown us." He gestured to Bella. "And there will need to be one other change in this new treaty." Bella held her breath, she knew what was coming. "It will include a clause that allows Bella to feed off of certain humans."

All hell broke loose.

 **Please leave a review! They make me keep writing. And I'm probably going to be updating about once a week. That way I can keep writing without burning myself out too bad, and I can hopefully continue on this schedule when classes start up again soon.**


	13. Chapter 13

The wolves were mostly silent, or, in the case of the more hot-tempered ones, arguing quite loudly in favor of Sam's proposal. They all knew what Sam meant, and Bella doubted they could really go against him in any capacity, anyway. The council members, sans Billy, were in an uproar. With another wave of his hand, Billy managed to calm them down enough to speak over the ones still whispering angrily.

"We are not giving Bella the ability to feed off of any human she sees. This is not permission to hunt people. This is permission to hunt the type of people that our own Protectors would kill if they saw them. Rapists, murderers, child molesters. The lowest of the low." Most of the council went silent at that, a few even nodding slightly with a harder look in their eyes. "She would be a predator that hunts predators." He looked back to Bella, and her jaw clenched as she gave him a firm nod.

"However, should any of the pack or the council here find that Bella has harmed an innocent person, she will be hunted down and exterminated immediately."

Bella took a deep breath and tried to fight down the strange thought that told her that if she was still human, she'd be feeling rather nauseous right about now.

The treaty was written up, and Bella made sure to look over the entire thing, as her mother taught her, before signing. When all was said and done, it was a rather quick affair, and the members of the pack that stayed after the council left started joking around quickly, breaking the tense atmosphere.

Bella was content to stay there until the pack went to sleep, but a buzzing in her pocket stole her attention.

Tanya: 'Head on over when you're ready.'

'On my way.' Bella sent it off and said her goodnights to the boys. Embry had Quil in a headlock and Paul was starting to take bets. She nodded once to Leah as she passed her and took off for another supernatural meeting.

When she knocked on the door to the Cullen's house, Kate greeted her with a slightly strained smirk. At Bella's questioning look, Kate rolled her eyes.

"Come on in. You're gonna wish you could still get drunk in a few minutes."

After the tension at the Council meeting, Bella had hoped for a different tone to this one, but upon entering the living room, she found the Denalis sitting around with varying degrees of discomfort written on their faces.

"Did someone die?" Bella asked, only half joking. Fortunately, judging by the chuckle that pulled out of a few of them, that was not the case.

"No, Bella," Tanya responded, a slight smile tugging at her lips, "no one died."

Bella let out an overdramatic sigh of relief, dropping into the empty seat beside Kate. "Well then I'm sure this meeting will be less stressful than the one I just had." At the questioning looks, Bella elaborated. "I met up with the council that, I guess, governs the shifters to discuss a treaty. Originally, they were going to just extend the treaty they had with the Cullens to include me, but Sam, the alpha of the pack, said that a new treaty was being drawn up. One that lets me feed on humans."

Kate let out an impressed whistle. "Damn, girl. Our cousins have been complaining about the 'narrow mindedness' of those pups for _decades_ , and you got them to accept that? How did you manage that?"

"You are going to continue with your human diet, then." Irina interjected before Bella could respond. Bella wasn't sure what the tone in her voice meant, but she felt the need to explain herself.

"Yes. I am going to continue feeding on human blood." A few Denalis looked uncomfortable at that. "And the reason that the wolves allowed be to enter into a treaty with them, despite that, is due to the kind of humans I will be hunting. I tried, I really did, to live off of animal blood. And it wasn't that I couldn't handle the taste, or that human blood was just _so_ much more appetizing that I chose this. I have fantastic control for a newborn, as I'm sure you've noticed," She received a few nods, "so I could've easily lived off of animal blood. But…" She trailed off, looking around the room at the golden eyes staring back at her. "Ok, I know this is going to sound strange, but I'm…morally opposed to it."

Bella had thought that she was the only vampire capable of being rendered this shocked, but apparently, she was wrong. Stunned faces surrounded her. She even saw a few jaws drop.

"You are…" Eleazar worked his jaw, "morally opposed to _not_ killing people?"

"Yes." Bella's eyes widened. "No! No wait that's not what I meant." She let out a sigh and rubbed at her forehead. She may not feel the consequences of a headache anymore, but old habits died hard. "I just can't do it, alright? I tried to feed off of animals, but the whole time I kept thinking that there was literally nothing this animal had ever done wrong in it's whole damn life and there I was, killing it. It kept letting out these horribly sad sounds and struggling and—" Bella threw her hands up in the air. "I can't go around killing innocent animals when there are still rapists living in the world. Why would I do that?"

She froze. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. You all obviously had a good reason to choose your diet and I swear I'm not trying to, like, convert you or anything, I just…" Bella took a deep breath, straightening her back from where she'd been hunching over. "The wolves created a treaty with me that allows me to hunt the scum of the earth. That's why they were okay with it."

The silence in the room made Bella fidget. Maybe that was too much. Maybe she should have stopped before she started talking about her new _diet_. She _definitely_ shouldn't have practically insulted them for drinking from animals—.

"'Not that there's anything wrong with that.'" Kate burst out laughing, and Bella noticed small smiles on the rest of the Denalis' faces.

"I don't think you'll find any judgment for your choice of diet here, Bella." Tanya stated, and Bella saw Carmen and Eleazar nod in agreement.

Bella didn't have to fake the sigh of relief that she released. "Thanks. Sorry about…you know."

"Calling us heartless killers?" Kate raised a brow at her, her face mock serious. "For murdering 'innocent animals' while they're 'letting out these horribly sad sounds and struggling?'"

If Bella could blush, she would. "No! Shit." Kate started laughing again. "I swear, I didn't mean—"

"She knows what you meant, dear." Carmen smiled at her reassuringly. "She's just being difficult."

"No one in this coven would judge you for ridding the world of those kinds of animals," Irina spoke softly, "quite a few of us have had a similar diet, at one time or another."

"Yeah, kid." Kate finally calmed down a bit. "You're good. I was just messing with you."'

Bella relaxed back into the couch, a smile coming to her face. "Thank you." She received understanding smiles all around. "If that's not what this is about, can I ask what this meeting is for?" And the strain was back in their faces.

"We received a phone call earlier this morning." Tanya began, glancing around at the rest of her coven. "Our cousins, the Cullens," Bella flinched, "had arrived at our home in Alaska to find us missing. They called to ask where we were."

"In all of the…unexpectedness of the past few days, we'd forgotten they were coming to visit." At the complicated and tense look on Bella's face, Kate continued. "They're not coming here." And Bella could breath again. "There was talk of heading to Europe. I think I heard Alice talk about going shopping in Paris. We just wanted to let you know."

Bella nodded, but her thoughts was already turned inward. She'd managed to, at least slightly, push the Cullens from her mind these past few weeks. She'd been too focused on figuring out what was happening to her, and the time travel, the worrying like crazy about Didyme and trying to figure that out, to really have the free time to think about them. She didn't know how that made her feel, that she'd managed to be freed of this weight in her stomach when even just their names were mentioned, for it to return at the slightest provocation. She'd thought that maybe she was over it.

And Alice.

She didn't know why that was hitting her so hard. She was listening for word of Edward when the Denalis were speaking, but when he went unmentioned it didn't hurt nearly as much as she'd thought it would. Alice, however, was a different story.

Just her name made Bella's jaw clench against the tears that her eyes just barely managed to hold back. Hearing that she was still her old self, talking about shopping sprees in Paris, after everything that Bella had gone through? After Laurent and the wolves and the time travel. After they _left her_ like she was _nothing_ to them. And she was just as fine and dandy as ever. Even after what Edward had said when he'd left, Bella had thought that, at the very least, the girl who'd called herself her sister would be a tiny bit affected.

Bella couldn't decide if she was heartbroken or furious.

She lowered her face into her hands, breathing out forcefully to try and shake some of the anger that swirled in her mind. She didn't see the Denalis exchanging concerned glances over her head. "Thank you," she finally breathed out, "for telling me." She looked up at Tanya. "You're sure they're not coming here?" She couldn't tell if she was hopeful or fearful. Whichever the case, Tanya's nod relieved her of the feeling. "Alright, thank you."

"Well," Kate broke the silence that lingered after Bella's words, "so long as the serious talk is all over," she grinned at Bella, "can I interest you in a round of ass-whooping?" She waved her hand toward the game system that was still set up in the living room, and Bella couldn't remember if that was left here by the _previous residents_ or if the Denalis had brought it.

Either way, she replied with a grin of her own. "So long as you have a pillow you can sit on later."

Kate guffawed, blurring over toward the television and setting it up. "So, little teleporter, what are you thinking: Mario Kart or some Smash Bros?" She held up the two games.

Bella considered her options for a moment, before raising her hand to point to Mario Kart. "As much as I'd like to kick the ass of your digital avatar tonight, Kate, I'm in the mood for some good, old fashioned—"

Her hands tingled.

"—seriously?" The change in tone from teasing to almost whining caught the attention of the rest of the Denalis, who were all sitting in to either watch, or participate in, the game. When they saw Bella flicker for a moment, Irina moved. She was suddenly right in front of Bella, looking her over as Bella's hands shook, just the smallest amount. She wouldn't have even caught it if she weren't a vampire.

The world tilted, the corners of her vision going fuzzy.

She didn't know how, but Bella managed to speak this time. "Okay, I swear, I will be right—"

Everything went white.

Bella landed on her feet this time. Or maybe 'landed' isn't exactly the right word, but it comes as close to the strange feeling of displacement as Bella can get.

Trees stood tall all around Bella, and for a moment she felt her heart give a phantom 'thud' before she realized that these were a different kind of tree than the ones near Didyme's cabin. These were much more gnarled and twisted, giving off a haunting feeling that mixed a little too well with the darkening sky above her. Night wasn't quite here, but it was approaching fast.

Bella glanced around, seeing nothing but trees and dirt in all directions. She seemed to be in a forest, but where? _And when?_ She couldn't see any marks of civilization, or any signs of people at all in any direction. Bella heaved a sigh. Would it be wrong to sit there and wait to go back to the present? But last time it was days before she'd returned.

With a disgruntled grunt, Bella picked a random direction and began running. She'd probably run across something eventually, right? And limitless energy had to be good for something.

She was running for just under 10 minutes when she found the road. Or, maybe path was a better description. It wasn't paved, and no stones or gravel were unnaturally placed to make it seem more like a road. There were obvious tracks from both humans and horses, as well as what Bella thought might be the tracks of wagons, so at least Bella could narrow down the time frame to _after they invented the wheel,_ Bella thought with a huff.

She followed along the path, picking the direction that most of the footprints seemed to be going but staying out of sight in the trees, just to be careful. The sun had completely vanished from the sky and night had settled in when Bella first saw other people. Or heard them.

There weren't any people along the road, but she could hear the heartbeats and muffled breathing of at least five people that were hidden away in the bushes and trees on either side of the road. Bella slowed her approach, her silent footsteps bringing her closer to the confusing scene. She could see men crouching low in the bushes, all of them silent but with their eyes fixated on the path ahead.

Upon closer inspection, Bella noticed that each of them was armed with daggers and other weapons. One of the men, this one with ripped clothing and—Bella sniffed the air— _blood_ on his face walked into the middle of the path and, with a quick glance at the bushes to receive a nod from one of the men, laid down in the middle of the road.

 _What the hell are they doing?_

A sound from down the road caught Bella's attention, and she focused in on it. It sounded like horses, but also something else. A wagon, maybe? Maybe it was a merchant traveling to a bigger city to sell their wares. Bella would only have to follow them to find more people. Almost a minute after she'd heard it, Bella watched as the hidden men straightened, some pulling out their weapons, others crouching lower to the ground.

They seemed to be almost…preparing for something.

It took Bella far longer than she'd admit to realize what was happening, and by the time she had, the horses were already in view. They were tall, healthy looking horses, probably bred specifically for the job they were now carrying out, which was to draw a carriage. An actual carriage. Not a very modern looking one, but definitely big enough to hold a few people and some extra weight, judging by the wooden chest stored on the back of it. The chest was painted vivid and eye-catching colors, as was the rest of the carriage.

Looking from the men in the bushes to the carriage, Bella thought painting a literal target may have not been the smartest move on their part.

As the carriage rolled forward, Bella could see the moment when the man holding the reigns saw the body in the road. His eyes widened, and he yanked back on the reigns, stopping the horses.

 _Oh, come on. This is an obvious trap. He can't actually be falling for it._

Then again, these people never had cable. They hadn't watched the same cliché work a hundred times, but Bella figured they would at least be wary. Apparently not, considering the man immediately jumped down and ran to the man. The moon was barely lighting up the sky, just a sliver illuminating the night, so the man had to get down on his knees and check the body up close. Bella almost wanted to warn him, but something stopped her short. She couldn't keep messing with the lives of everyone she saw in these trips.

Sooner or later, the butterfly effect was going to bite her in the ass.

 _It's just a robbery. They'll take the money and go. And, from the looks of it, these people had the money to spare._

The second his knees hit the dirt, the man laying on the ground turned around fluidly and stuck a dagger in the driver's gut. Bella's sharp gasp was completely drowned out by the man's scream, which seemed to be the signal for the men in the bushes, who all rushed out into the road.

" _Check the carriage!"_ One of the men, probably the leader, yelled at two of them. Bella didn't have long to speculate on the slightly different version of the language that Didyme had taught her before the men opened the carriage and pulled two screaming women out.

One of them Bella actually recognized as the woman from an earlier trip. The one who was attacked before that Bella had saved. She still wore her necklace around her neck. The other was much younger, somewhere in that awkward stage between child and teenager; her limbs too long and her movements jilted, as if she was still getting used to her new height. It wasn't until the men forced both women to their knees in front of the leader that Bella saw the eyes of the teenager.

Beautiful brown eyes glared up at the sneering man before her, and Bella somehow knew that _this_ was the baby that the woman had been protecting last time.

 _Never the same place twice, huh?_

" _Empty the chest! We need to make this look good!"_ The leader spoke, never taking his eyes off of the older woman's. He leaned down, putting his face close to hers, and Bella practically recoiled for her. " _Your cousin sends his regards."_ And he pulled out his own dagger.

 _These weren't bandits. These were hired killers._

Bella didn't allow herself to think. Fuck the butterflies.

She blurred in, grabbing the dagger, and raced back out before anyone could so much as blink, leaving the man staring at his empty hand in utter bewilderment.

Another blur, and one of the men who had been reaching for the wooden chest was on the ground, neck twisted at an unnatural angle. The man who had been helping him screamed, and the rest started to look toward the trees in a frenzy, but the leader seemed more angry than scared.

" _You!"_ He pointed to one of his men. " _Give me your dagger!"_ The man in question clutched at it, eyes darting to the trees. " _Now!"_ the leader yelled, and the man flinched before tossing his dagger at the leader's feet. Once again, he raised the dagger to the woman's throat.

And then it was sticking out of the throat of the man who had tossed it to him.

The man who had screamed the first time took off running, racing the direction the wagon had come, and the women seemed to take this as their cue. The older woman shoved the perturbed leader before shouting to the younger one, " _Get back to the carriage!"_ When the girl showed hesitance, she pushed her toward the carriage a bit with a, " _Now, Sulpicia!"_ That finally got the girl to run and she hopped into the carriage and shut it behind her just as a muffled scream came from the direction of the man who ran.

Only two men were left, now: the one who'd stabbed the driver, and the leader.

The leader wasted no time in grabbing the woman, who put up a decent fight, but the man easily overpowered her with sheer strength. He pulled her to his chest, and grabbed the last dagger from the other man, setting it against her throat.

" _Whoever you are, I swear to Zeus that you are making a mistake! The rightful heir offered riches that you couldn't even imagine!"_ He spoke into the air, walking with his chest to the woman's back as he backed toward the carriage. " _And, luckily for you, I seem to be down a few men! You may have their share of the reward if—"_ He cut off at the sight in front of him.

Bella had raced up to the other man who was still looking around wildly and grasped him by the chin, yanking his head to the side to bare his throat to her. Her bright red eyes stood out in the darkness while she stared the leader down as she bit into the second to last man's neck. The leader stood stock still, stunned from the sudden appearance of this demon.

" _By Hades…"_ The words left his mouth in whisper of horror and awe.

Bella dropped the empty carcass to the ground, still staring at the leader, and slowly stalked forward. The man matched her pace, step for step, until his back was up against the carriage. Bella used a burst of speed to be in front of him in the next moment, and both he and the woman let out gasps. Bella could see his hand had reflexively cut a small line on the woman's neck. It was artificial, but the scent of blood still hit the air.

In a flash the dagger was gone, and Bella was holding the man by his throat against the carriage, just a few steps away from the woman.

" _Hades didn't send me."_ Bella grinned at him, and tears leaked from his eyes. " _But tell him I said hello."_ And she sunk her teeth into his neck, pulling the blood into her mouth hard to quicken his death.

When, finally, the last body dropped to the ground, Bella let out a satisfied sigh and turned to the woman whose heart was beating so hard that Bella thought it might rip itself out of her chest.

Her hands started tingling, and the corners of her vision were blurring along with them.

" _Hello again."_

Bella faded out—

—and right back into the living room, surrounded by Denalis.

Her shirt was soaked with blood from some of the men, and it had a slash in it from where the running one had managed to cut at her with his dagger. Her feet were covered in dirt, and her first thought was that she was getting the pristine looking carpet dirty.

She made eye contact with a stupefied Kate, still holding two games in her hands.

"You mind if I take a shower before Mario Kart?"

 **A/N: Keeping up with the updating schedule so far! Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Side note, if I were to write a story about Bella with a denali sister after this one, which sister should it be? Or, less rarely seen, should I make a story about Bella and Maria, the vampire that turned Jasper? Are there any pairings or story ideas you want to see written?**


	14. Chapter 14

Once Bella was back into clean clothes, having washed her hair three times to get all the blood out, she sat back down with the Denalis. Mario Kart had been put away, unfortunately, and Bella was confronted with Kate and Eleazar's serious faces.

"Look, kid," Kate began, "as entertaining as this disappearing act is, you've got to admit it can be a bit inconvenient."

"Not to mention potentially dangerous," Irina added, "you could accidentally teleport into an active volcano!"

Bella laughed, "I doubt I'd—"

"Oh, so you have control over where you end up?" Irina raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Well," Bella fidgeted, "no. But it's never been someplace like that _before_."

"Which is, of course, an indicator of what will come. Because you are absolutely sure of how your ability works." Irina continued to stare her down, and Bella couldn't come up with a response.

"Right," Kate looked between the two of them, "So anyways, Eleazar and I are gonna try to help you with that."

Bella frowned at them questioningly, "How?" At Kate's smirk, Bella's eyes widened. "On second thought, I don't need to know. I'm okay with never knowing, really."

"Relax, kid," Kate said, "I have an ability, so I'm the most suited for helping you to at least get started in the basics, and Eleazar here can sense the abilities of others, so he's going to try and figure out how to work around your unique skill."

Bella mumbled, "I'm not a kid."

"What was that?" Kate asked, a knowing grin on her face.

"I said I'm ready whenever you are." Bella responded, keeping her face carefully neutral.

"Mhmm." Kate narrowed her eyes playfully before turning to Eleazar. "We're going to want to do this outside. At his nod, the two started toward the door, with Bella following at a much slower pace.

"Outside?" Bella asked, "Why do we need to do this outside?"

"Don't worry, Bella," Tanya piped up from her spot on the couch, "We've instructed Kate to go easy on you."

Bella whipped around to look at her, eyes wide, "What?"

Laughter was the only response she received, and Bella continued to make her way toward Eleazar and Kate as they trekked out into the open back yard. As soon as they were in the middle of the area, both vampires sat on the soft grass.

"Take a seat, Bella." Eleazar motioned to the ground in front of him, and Bella sat, mimicking his posture. "So far that we've seen, your ability is vastly different to any that I've encountered," Eleazar began, "It seems to almost veil you, like a shroud around your entire body that distorts the very fabric of reality to your whims." At Bella's incredulous stare, he added, "Perhaps not _entirely_ to your whims."

"Very against my whims to be perfectly honest," Bella muttered.

"Be that as it may," Eleazar conceded, "I believe that your main ability has to do with the shaping and manipulating of this energy that surrounds you. We simply need to focus on how to do that."

Bella's head tilted to the side, considering. "My main ability?"

"Yup," Kate chimed in, "When dear old Eddie boy visited us the first time, he mentioned being unable to read your mind. And I've not seen you so much as flinch when I touch you yet, so my ability definitely doesn't work on you. We think it's a sort of side effect of the 'veil', as we've taken to calling it. The energy around you pushed away any possible effect from other abilities like a shield. Nothing can get past the veil."

"That's why Edward couldn't read me." Bella said.

"Yes, and it would probably have a similar effect on many others with abilities. While the shield is a side effect, that is where we have planned to start," Eleazar spoke with confidence, "Kate's ability first manifested in her hands before she was able to push it to cover her entire body." Kate grinned at Bella before seeming to concentrate, and a visible coat of sparking electricity covered her for a moment. "We will start with trying to get you to expand this shield of yours, concentrating on the energy itself before moving onto the teleporting."

Bella nodded. "Sounds good." She squared her shoulders before pausing. "How exactly do I do that?"

"Focus on what you felt each time your ability was activated. Envision the energy cloaking your body. It may help if you close your eyes." Eleazar instructed.

Bella did as directed and let her eyes close, trying to clear her head of all of the random impulses and thoughts that constantly rushed around in her mind as a result of her newborn status. So far, when her ability was activated, Bella had a few distinct warnings: A tingling in her hands that usually ended up encompassing her entire body, a strange change in perspective like the world is righting itself to her again, and a blurriness in the corners of her vision. She started with the first one, as it seemed the closest to what Eleazar and Kate were talking about.

She didn't know if it started at her hands, or if that was just where Bella first noticed it and she'd started to associate the feeling with it. Nevertheless, Bella focused on that feeling. The way it almost prickled like when she was still human and got pins and needles when the blood flow of a certain limb started to return after being got off. This was less related to her blood, but that was the closest thing she could get to it. When she concentrated, she could almost feel that feeling, though it was incredibly muted. It was like a small film of something was resting in the palms of her hands.

As she pinpointed the feeling, Bella could almost grasp that energy with her mind. She took hold of it, and encouraged it to grow, pulling it over the backs of her hands, and slowly inching it up her wrists.

"Bella!" Kate's voice interrupted her concentration, and Bella opened her eyes.

Her hands were gone.

"Holy f—" Bella gasped and her mind seemed to let go of the strange feeling. She watched as her hands came back into view, and when she thought about it, she could feel that whatever is was had retreated back into her palms. She ran her fingers over her palms with wonder.

"Right." Eleazar spoke up, drawing Bella's eyes to him. "So maybe whatever that was, focus on a different part. For now."

Bella nodded, eyes still wide. "Right. Yeah. Good idea."

"Don't want you disappearing yourself over to Spain or something mid-training." Kate brushed off the incident with a laugh, and a slightly hysterical one bubbled up out of Bella's chest before she cleared her throat and nodded.

"Okay. Let's try this again."

Bella closed her eyes again, but instead of trying to pull that feeling away from her palms, she just focused on the feeling itself. There was the prickling, but there was also a warmth. It clung to her, and when Bella focused on it, she could feel it surrounding her entire body, not just her hands. She opened her mind to the feeling, letting the warmth fill her, and opened her eyes.

She could see it.

It was almost like a bubble, hovering less than an inch from her skin in a wavering and shifting layer. It wasn't exactly a color, but more of a distortion, like when you can see heat waves coming off of pavement. This was much more prominent, though. She finally understood why the corners of her vision got 'fuzzy' when she traveled. She was able to see the shield around in those moments, and she hadn't even known it.

"Holy shit." Bella couldn't help but gasp, and she felt two pairs of eyes on her. She didn't dare look away for fear that she'd somehow lose it when she spoke, "I—I can see it!" A laugh escaped her. "Oh my god."

"Alright, Bella." Kate spoke, and Bella listened without shifting her eyes. "Now, here's the hard part. You need to try and move it. Imagine it moving away from your skin, pushing toward Eleazar." Bella clenched her jaw, following Kate's instructions. It was difficult to move, only budging a few inches before snapping back to her. It almost seemed to have a mind of its own, not wanting to separate from Bella.

"It's not working," She informed them, "It keeps coming back to me, no matter how hard I push it." She dropped her concentration, feeling put out by her failure.

"You think I got control of my ability in an hour?" Kate asked, and Bella looked at her. "Kid, it took decades to make it cover my whole body, and centuries to fully master it. You aren't going to be perfect at this on your first try, but you've got to keep working at it." Kate's smiling face turned serious. "If you had a different ability, we wouldn't be pushing this, but Irina was right. Your ability could seriously endanger you. You need to get control of this thing, and fast."

Bella held her eyes for a moment before nodding. Kate was right, and she knew it. This ability was incredibly dangerous, and in more ways than the Denalis really knew. She needed to figure it out.

"Alright, again."

Bella wished she could say that it was easy, that she only needed a day before she had some control over this ability, but she'd be lying. She spent the next few _weeks_ training with Kate and Eleazar. They'd switch from training in the yard, with her focusing on her shield, to hunting to replenish some strength, and straight back to training.

* * *

It was exhausting, but Bella had made a bit of progress.

She was able to expand the shield around her to cover other targets, which became necessary very quickly when Kate decided to use her ability on her coven to motivate her. Bella could now project her shield about 15 feet from herself in every direction, or much further if she was focusing on a singular target. She knew that with training, she could make it even further still.

The other part of her ability, however, was much more difficult to train.

She'd tried focusing on that prickling sensation, just to see if she could figure out more about it, but she'd gotten nothing. When she'd repeated her previous attempts at controlling it, by pulling it up her arms, it had seemed to pull back, not letting her move it in the slightest.

Today was the closest she'd gotten.

"Come on, kid." Bella heard Kate, but it was barely audible through the buzzing in her mind. She'd been focusing on the palms of her hands for nearly an hour now, trying to get a firmer 'grip' in her mind on the strange feeling. She'd been hesitant at first, when Eleazar and Kate had brought it up, but she knew that she'd have to try something sooner or later it she wanted to get a handle on it, so there she was. "You've got this, come on."

She could feel it, just the slightest bit of leeway, and she latched on. It was less of a tugging that got it to move up her arms, and more of a coaxing. It felt like Bella was persuading the feeling to move, asking instead of telling.

"Yes! Bella, you're doing it!"

The tingling encompassed her forearms, and continued up her elbows, and she felt a similar feeling start in her toes, creeping higher up her calves.

"This is so freaky to watch, Bella."

Bella opened her eyes, looking at Kate's astonished face before directing her gaze toward herself. Her arms were completely transparent. There was still a sort of blurriness where Bella could feel them to be, so she knew she still had arms, but it was like looking at a very obscure after-image. She could only see them if she really concentrated. Her legs were in a similar state.

Bella grinned. She didn't know exactly what this was accomplishing, but she felt the sense of pride fill her anyway.

Until she lost control.

The tingling spread, crawling over her torso and up her chest, and Bella turned wide eyes to Kate. It must've looked strange for a floating head to be staring at her, but Kate's eyes held no amusement as she recognized the fear in Bella's. She took a step forward toward Bella, keeping their eyes locked.

"You can control this, kid. It's _your_ ability. Focus!"

Bella grit her teeth, concentrating on the tingling she felt inching up her neck, and willed it to retreat. She tried to tug at it with her mind, forcing it back down, but it wouldn't listen. She took one last look at a panicked Kate and saw Irina blur into view right before her vision went white.

* * *

Bella faded back in to a place she'd been before. It was that same room she'd been to once, with the child that was playing some sort of game of hide and seek, albeit with unwilling partners.

It was still a bit dusty, but Bella could tell that it had been cleaned a few times since she'd last been there. Her footprints were gone, as were the marks of the child. Bella sighed. That meant she'd have to leave.

Her trips were becoming longer and longer, and if she wanted to remain unseen, she'd have to leave the little cellar area and find a better hiding spot. Or something to do.

With that thought, she crept toward the door, listening for a moment for any signs of people, before cracking it open and slipping through. The beautiful scene outside of the little room was as beautiful as ever, but Bella didn't allow herself to linger as she heard voices coming from quite a ways down on the right. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that 'away from people' was probably the best bet. Especially if you are an accidental home invader.

She took off to the left, blurring down long hallways and having to stop every once in a while to avoid notice. She'd managed to elude any potential threats to her being seen as of yet, but the longer she walked, the more impressed Bella got.

The original house that she'd showed up in wasn't necessarily that large, but there was some sort of constant connection between it and other buildings that she rushed through, and when she'd finally reached the end of it and made a break for the outdoors, Bella turned back around to admire the large compound.

It held quite a number of people, as Bella had noticed during her walk through, so it wasn't exactly a residential house. And Bella could tell isn't wasn't some kind of hotel, either. It seemed more like one house with some kind of place to work attached to every side of it. From her place on the outskirts, Bella could even see some kind of large field, surrounded by walls.

The noises from that field drew her attention, as she couldn't quite recognize the source of the specific sound that was echoing off the field, so Bella hesitantly made her way toward it, sticking to the trees on the outskirts of the compound and staying far enough away that no one would be able to see her without some kind of binoculars.

With her advanced vision, however, Bella could see them.

Inside of the field were about 20 men, all bare from the chest up, and most armed. Some swung swords at posts, others faced each other bare handed, landing blow after blow. There were other men, fully clothed in some kind of armor, walking along the walls and staring down at the men in the field.

 _What is this? Some kind of training ground?_

The crack of a whip sounded, and all fighting ceased.

" _Soldiers!"_ A man in intricate looking armor called out from the highest point of the wall, and all of the men in the field turned to look at him. " _I bring news from the front! As of last night, a temporary truce has been called. Your brothers in arms will be returning home by the week's end!"_ A loud cheer went up through the men, and Bella watched some of them patting each other on the back in a slightly too violent manner. The captain, or whatever he was, held up his hand to gather their attention once more. " _That does not mean the war is won, or even that the battle is over, men. We know the tricks of our enemy, and we know it won't be long until this truce has been broken. We must continue to train and prepare for the true war that lies ahead._ " That managed to get serious looks all around, some men nodding, others just looking plain exhausted.

" _However,"_ the captain grinned, " _that doesn't mean we haven't earned ourselves a break for the next few days. You are all dismissed until three days from now!_ " Another, much louder cheer went up, surprising Bella. She supposed that no matter where you went, people loved getting time off. " _I expect you back here at dawn in three days!"_ And he left, many of the men in the field rushing to the doors in the walls.

Bella watched the field slowly clear out, and the sun sunk low into the sky. As the colors of sunrise lit up the field, Bella let herself take in the gorgeous view. She didn't know much about this place, but it was one of the most beautiful locations she'd bet she'd ever see.

The next surprise was the smaller figure making its way onto the field, long after the last of the men had fled. Bella's eyes narrowed, taking them in. The person—girl, Bella could tell when she got a better look—wore armor that was obviously not made for her, pulling her down with the weight of it and making her movements seem bulky and disjointed.

She was holding a sword that was longer than her arm, and Bella watched as she slowly raised it. Bella didn't know what she expected from this girl, who was obviously not supposed to be out here, but maybe she though she'd see her messing with the weapons. Attacking the air or something, but that is not what Bella saw.

The girl held the sword out in front of her, her arm not wavering despite the disproportionate size, and began a very slow series of moves that seemed to almost flow into each other. They were fluid movements, obviously heavily practiced, and Bella found herself watching this girl for longer than she anticipated.

With her blonde hair tied back, and the stolen armor, this girl looked more like a warrior.

Bella watched her work until hours after the night sky started lighting up with stars. It was captivating. Eventually, though, the girl put down the weapon and stalked back into the door she came from, and that was the end of the show.

Bella sighed, staring out over the field and the compound on this grassy plain.

 _What was she supposed to do now?_

She didn't need to wait long for that question to be answered, as right then a distant scream, an _inhuman scream_ , sounded deep within the trees behind her.

 **A/n: And chapter 14 is done! I'm trying really hard to keep myself going, as I've got a lot of plans for our queens and friendly neighborhood time traveler. Let me know what you think!  
**


	15. Chapter 15

Bella whipped around toward the trees, staring into them as if waiting for something to attack her.

There was this feeling in her chest, deep and instinctive, that something was _very wrong_. She should run away. It was like everything within her was telling her that something dangerous lurked in the trees.

After a few moments of silence, Bella relaxed. Maybe it was just a strange trick of the wind.

" _Somebody help me!"_ The voice would be inaudible to human ears, but it screeched against Bella's. Before she knew it, she took off running it its direction.

 _This new hero complex thing she was developing was definitely going to get her killed._

She dodged trees as they blew past her, straining her ears for any signs of life. Or danger. Eventually, it wasn't a sound that brought her up short, but a smell.

 _Blood. Fresh blood._

She altered her direction the smallest bit to head toward the source of the smell, not out of bloodlust, but worry that she was going to be too late this time. The smell got thicker in the air as she neared whatever the cause was, and with it Bella scented something else on the air. It was almost animal smelling, but mixed with something putrid and foul. Like a rotting corpse of some deer.

Bella stopped running when she found the body.

The woman was barely older than Bella, herself. Splayed out across the dirt and grass, her waifish and delicate features told Bella a story of someone who had never worked a day in their lives. She wore a white dress of some kind, marred now by dirt and grass stains. If it weren't for the massive bloody hole in her abdomen, Bella would've assumed she was some random girl that lived on the compound that came out into the woods for a nap.

Surprisingly, Bella's bloodlust didn't flare up at the gaping wound, and, when Bella knelt closer to examine it, the smell of blood in her nose was… _off_ somehow. Tainted. The wound itself was messy and imprecise. Whatever animals had caused it, as Bella determined it had been an animal by the claw marks, hadn't stayed for dinner. This was a kill for fun, done with passion and left without care.

" _Help! Please!"_ A faint cry from further into the woods called to her, and Bella gave a last lingering look at the poor woman before sprinting after it. She could do nothing more for this girl, but she might be able to save someone.

As she ran towards the voice, Bella noticed that the direction she was going followed a trail of that same scent she'd noticed earlier. She tried to brush it off, but her body tensed further, and her eyes darted among the trees nervously. Whatever it was that attacked that woman wouldn't catch her by surprise if she had anything to say about it.

" _Someone, plea—"_ The plea was cut off, but Bella was so close she just ran faster, rounding a tree to see the source.

It was a man wearing similar gear to those in the field earlier, and Bella thought he must've snuck out to see that woman she'd found, before they'd been attacked. She ran up to his bleeding form, and she could hear his struggling heartbeat. He had a wound similar to the woman's, a gash at his stomach designed to cause pain. A slow death. His eyes lit up when they found hers, and Bella ran to him, kneeling down beside his prone form.

" _Please!"_ Blood bubbled up from his throat and down the side of his mouth as he moved, grabbing at her arm and pulling her closer. " _It killed Mersa! You have to warn the men before the beast kills more!"_ He pulled at her, and she could see tears leaking from his eyes. Her jaw clenched as she looked down at him, and she could see that his fight against death would take him long before she could bring him back to the compound. " _Please! I-I don't…"_ More tears leaked from his eyes, traveling down his cheeks and mixing with the blood at his throat. " _I don't want to die."_

" _You—You're going to be okay."_ Bella spoke, her voice soft despite the clench in her jaw. " _I can help—"_

She didn't know how she hadn't noticed it. The smell from before, the one she followed to find this man, it lingered here. It was intense, thicker in the air then a smell should be, clinging from tree to tree almost like… _they were marked._

She had entered its territory.

Something came at her from the side, and Bella didn't even have time to blink before her entire body went sailing, slamming into a tree. She hurried to her feet, back pressed against the tree as she scanned her surroundings. It was fast. Even as she searched through the trees, she couldn't see her assailant. It was hiding.

A growl rumbled through the trees, and Bella was once again in the air. Her body hit the dirt and she rolled to a crouch, using her hands as claws to stop her motion backwards. She didn't get a good look at whatever it was as she bull rushed it, hoping to take it by surprise. Her shoulder hit its mid-section, and this time she wasn't the one that went flying. It dropped back to the ground in a heap, making a rough sound, before slowly standing back up.

Bella couldn't help her gasp.

The creature, whatever it was, stood up on its back legs like a human, but it was at least eight feet tall. Its legs were bent backwards at the knees, looking like a dog's hind legs, and its arms drooped down lower than its knees, with long clawed fingers. The whole thing was covered in a layer of coarse, blood matted fur.

But, what really got Bella was its face. An elongated snout, almost like a dog, but more humanoid in shape, protruded from its head below its completely black eyes. And, when it opened its mouth to let out a snarl, Bella could see rows upon rows of sharp canine teeth.

 _Holy Shit Holy Shit HOly_

It charged her.

Bella just barely managed to dodge as the thing copied her own attack and bull rushed her. She flipped over its back, tensing the tendons in her hands and clawed down it back, drawing its blood. The thing howled, turning back around to face her and running right back in.

Whatever it was, it was as fast as her, and definitely at least as strong. But it didn't seem to have any self-control.

It swiped at her with its claws, and Bella jumped back. She avoided claw after claw by barely a hair's breadth until she dove beneath it, kicking at one of its legs.

She heard a snap, and an enraged growl filled the air. Before she could even stand back up, a claw caught her shoulder, and white-hot pain filled Bella's side.

She let out her own cry, trying to sprint away from the thing, but it pinned her to the forest floor. She flipped onto her back and just barely had enough time to grab it's head as rows of canine teeth tried to snap around her neck.

Her arms trembled as she held it back. The thing was strong, and the full moon overhead highlighted the streaks of blood in its fur and the red smear in its teeth.

 _Full moon. Oh my god._

She didn't have time to linger on the realization that she was fighting off an honest to god _werewolf_ because the thing started to use its claws to shove her further into the dirt.

It kept snapping its teeth at her, held back by just an inch by her arms, and she had to turn her head to the side at one point to avoid losing her nose.

From its position on top of her, it was undoubtedly stronger. And the wild abandon in its black eyes terrified her as the thrashing creature went for her neck again.

Bell grabbed either side of its mouth, and its teeth pierced her left hand. She didn't have the strength to push it off of her, so she had to improvise.

With all of her newborn vampire strength, Bella tightened her hold on its upper and lower jaw ands _pulled_.

The thing kept trying to snap at her, but she held its mouth open, prying it wider and wider as high-pitched whines started to come from its open throat. With one final burst of strength, Bella yanked, and a snapping sound filled the air as its jaw went limp.

The creature—werewolf let out a yelp and finally scrambled off of her. She didn't let it go far though, looping her arms around its head as it bucked and thrashed to get her off.

She tightened her grip, crushing its throat in her arms, and the thing went crazy. It started to run into trees, smashing into them with Bella taking the brunt of the damage, but she refused to let up.

And, with a final, sickening crunch, the beast went limp.

Bella stumbled back, impossible tired. She knew that vampires had unlimited energy, but _holy shit_.

 _She'd just killed a werewolf._

A furious wave of pain from her shoulder drew her attention, and Bella could see three large slashes from where its longest fingers had gotten her when it had slashed at her. _Fuck, that hurt._ She touched a gentle hand to it and pulled back with a hiss as it seemed to throb with pain at the slightest touch.

 _Can someone get lycanthropy from a scratch, or is it only a bite? Can a vampire even become a werewolf if they're already technically undead? Was she going to turn into some weird hybrid vampire-werewolf creature that—_

A low moan broke her from her musings, and Bella turned to find the pain filled, but wide open, eyes of the dying man, staring at her from about 10 feet away. The werewolf must've tossed her back near him.

" _Wait."_ Bella held up her hands in a placating gesture and then immediately lowered her right hand as pain branched out from her shoulder once more.

" _You-you,"_ the man trembled, staring at her with a quivering jaw, " _You killed the beast. What_ are _you?"_

Bella ran back to his side, and he sucked in a startled breath as she appeared next to him. " _I'm a different kind of beast."_ She gave him a closed mouth smile, trying to comfort him as more blood seeped into the forest floor.

" _Then you are a beast sent by the gods."_ More tears ran freely from his eyes. " _That monster killed my Mersa. I wanted to bring her peace and avenge her by slaying it, but it moved faster than the eye could see! And you,"_ he gazed at her, and Bella was slightly uncomfortable to see awe in his eyes. " _you killed it. You gave peace to my Mersa."_

Bella swallowed as she stared down at the dying man, a crazy thought forming in her head. " _I could give peace to you to."_ She could see the fear that sprang into him at the thought, even while he lay there dying. " _Or, I could make you like me."_

His breath stuttered, a strange mix of caution, hope, and fear rose from him and into the air. It was so potent that Bella could smell it. " _Please."_

" _If I do,"_ Bella's eyes hardened, " _you will have to do as I say. I will not create a beast just to let him loose on the people that live here. If I turn you, you will harm no innocent. It will be difficult, but I will help you._ " She looked off to the side. " _While I can._ "

" _Yes."_ The man's firm words were sounding less like a plea. " _I will be a good beast."_ He smiled past his tears. " _Like you."_

Bella nodded, swallowing her venom as she steeled herself. " _And what is your name, my soon to be Childe?"_

" _Cretus."_ He grabbed at her arm as she lowered herself down to his neck, his grip somehow firm but also almost…reverent.

" _Pleasure to meet you, Cretus."_ He let out a startled laugh. " _And I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt."_

She bit him.

The screams were a bit hard to cover up, even as far out into the woods as they were, and Bella knew people were starting to talk about the ' _banshee_ ' in the woods.

After the first day of sitting by Cretus' side as he began his change, Bella knew she'd have to do something about the gigantic, stinking body of a werewolf that was starting to attract flies. She hefted the thing up, speaking lowly to Cretus, despite knowing he wouldn't hear her, and drug the thing further into the forest. She spent a few hours there, pulling the body apart and spreading it about. She'd had to bury most of it.

She did, however, keep a few teeth.

 _She'd killed a werewolf, she got to keep a souvenir. Sue her._

Well, a souvenir apart from the scars that were forming on her left hand and right shoulder. She'd gone hunting during the second day, looking to replenish her strength and rid herself of the cracks lining her skin from the attack. One would-be rapist later, and Bella's eyes were a satisfied bright red, and most of the damage had vanished.

Apart from the marks where its teeth and claws had punctured her skin. Whatever werewolves were made of, they could definitely kill vampires. She shuddered at how close to death she'd gotten this time. Irina and Kate were right, she needed to control this thing before she wound up in the jaws of something worse.

Another thing about the attack that had bothered her was something Carlisle had said to her when she'd gone on one of her 'question the vampire' sprees that her curios nature so often provoked. She'd asked if there was anything else supernatural in the world, and Carlisle had given her a strange look that she now knew to be him trying not to break the treaty with the shifters on the Rez.

Then he'd spoken about how werewolves _used_ to exist, a long time ago. They had been supposedly wiped out on the orders of one of the Kings, Caius. That was one thing she wasn't going to fault the leaders of the vampire world for. But, Carlisle had said that they'd gone extinct from the hunting over two _thousand_ years ago.

She may have gone back in time even further than she'd originally thought. It was a terrifying realization. The only thing that distracted her from it was Cretus.

The rest of the time she spent at her screaming Childe's side, and she was startled by the strange bond she felt forming. She knew Carlisle had mentioned feeling a bond toward his maker, and that those bonds were secondary only to mating bonds, but she was still taken aback by the protectiveness she felt over this complete stranger.

It was like she could feel this pull toward him that grew stronger with each passing moment as the change took him. It wasn't a romantic feeling, but it was powerful. Bella couldn't understand the idea that a single maker out there had ever been able to just leave their Childe if they all felt this way.

She sincerely hoped she wouldn't have to leave her own so soon.

On the third day, red eyes opened to a new world.

Bella had been watching over him, listening to the sound of his slowing heart as it gave its final beats. She'd been worrying over how little control most newborns had, as she knew she was an exception to the rule. She was worried that he'd immediately attack her and go off on a rampage.

When he immediately locked eyes with her upon awakening, however, Bella took the awe-filled smile that overtook his face as a good sign.

He'd tried to speak, but his words were choked off as he grasped at his throat and looked at her with desperate eyes. She nodded at him and motioned for him to get up, which he did in an instant, looking down at his body in wonder.

" _This is the hard part, Cretus."_ She spoke, and all of his attention was on her, almost like a soldier awaiting commands from their superior officer. " _What we are requires us to drink blood to survive."_ When his gaze didn't immediately turn revolted, she continued. " _I made a decision to drink human blood, the blood of the rapists and murderers and other trash, but there is always the option to drink animal blood, should you choose that."_

He looked thoughtful for a moment. When he looked back at her, she knew he still couldn't speak over the pain in his throat, but he gestured at her meaningfully. " _You wish to live like me?"_ Bella questioned, and was answered with a firm nod. " _Very well, then follow._ "

Cretus trailed after her speeding form, looking at first startled, then overjoyed at his new speed, and they'd had to go much further then the compound, coming upon a large city that was much more well-built than what Bella was expecting for something so old, to find another rapist. They'd had to stick to the outskirts; Bella didn't want to test the newborn's control too much too soon.

Very quickly, it became apparent to her that maybe something else besides her venom had transferred over to the newborn during his change. His eyes remained a bright red, no matter how close to the city they got. Even when an unfortunate man passed them by, Cretus hadn't even spared him a glance, continuing to listen out for signs of a struggle, like Bella had told him to.

It seemed that the newborn had inherited her strange brand of self-control.

After they had successfully completed the hunt, with no unfortunate accidents, Bella took him back into the woods, as far away from people as she could manage. Just to be safe.

The second they stepped into the territory of the former werewolf, Cretus had turned toward Bella and promptly dropped to one knee.

" _Domina."_ His hand came up to rest over his unbeating heart, and Bella's eyes widened. " _I do not know how to thank you for this strange and incredible new life you have granted me, but I will start with my servitude."_

" _Your what?"_ Bella breathed out. " _Wait. I don't own you. You don't owe me anything for this."_

" _You saved my life,"_ he argued, " _I owe you everything, Domina."_

" _Bella."_ His brow furrowed. " _My name is Bella, not Domina."_

He smiled, " _Domina is not a name, it is a title. One you have earned."_

Bella was still confused. She thought she'd heard that title somewhere in one of her history classes, but she couldn't remember what it meant. " _Alright. But you can call me Bella."_

He nodded, the smile not leaving his face.

" _Cretus,"_ Bella began, gazing down at the man who still rested on one knee, " _there is a lot to tell you, and I don't know how much time I have to do it."_

It was a long conversation, lasting a full day and well into the night, but Bella managed to get across exactly what had happened to her, and how she was there. She didn't know why, but he was much more open to the concept of time travel than Didyme. The sharp stab of pain in her chest at the thought of the woman didn't help her focus as she spoke.

From there, Bella imparted the understanding of exactly how limited her time with Cretus was, and the solemn look, bordering desperation, that she received was echoed in her own heart. She wanted to be there for her Childe, needed to be, but she knew she couldn't be. And she had no one to bring him back with her.

After that talk, Cretus spent the rest of the week looking at Bella with a heavy concern in his eyes, seemingly waiting for the moment she started to disappear, so he could clutch to her and try to make her stay. After a whole week of this, Bella had to speak up.

" _I need you to promise me that when I leave—"_

" _If."_ Cretus interrupted, a sour look on his face.

" _When I leave,"_ she continued, sparing him a reprimanding glance, " _you will continue to live on as I have taught you. I don't know if I'll be able to return here, but I need to know you will not forsake everything you've learned the moment I go."_

" _Domina—"_

" _Bella."_ It was her turn to interrupt him.

"… _Bella, I will follow your ways long after you,"_ he seemed to choke up a bit, " _leave."_

It was almost like her gift was just waiting for permission.

The second the final word left his mouth, Bella could feel the telltale prickling in her fingers, and her almost mournful gasp made Cretus' eyes grow wide and fearful.

" _No!"_ He grabbed at her arms. " _No, please. Not yet. I-you can't leave me yet! I'm not ready!"_

The corners of her vision went fuzzy, and Bella, for the first time, actively looked at her shield. It spread out across her, and she could see it crawling up her arms at a quick pace, leaving an after image of her as it took her back. She turned back to Cretus. Panic was written all over his face, and Bella managed to reach out a hand to cup his cheek, despite the weighted down feeling in her arms.

" _I will try to return."_ She could see a part of her shield, almost like an echo, latch onto him. It covered his own mind, and Bella almost wanted to smile at the thought that a part of her was so clearly staying with her Childe.

Tears that would never flow over his cheeks again pooled in Cretus' eyes as Bella faded from time.

 **I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of interaction between Bella and Athenodora, but Cretus is important. You'll get much more of her next time, I promise. And thank you to every person that left a review!**


	16. Chapter 16

Bella came back surrounded by worried vampires.

"Oh, thank fuck." She could hear Kate mutter in the back as Irina grabbed her face, twisting it from left to right, checking her over.

It really didn't take her long to find the scars on her shoulder and hand. Bella hadn't exactly had the resources to change clothes, and the werewolf attack had torn up her current attire to an almost indecent point.

She hadn't really had time in the last week to feel that ashamed of it. Now, though, as Irina reached out to gently touch the claw marks on her bared shoulder, Bella was becoming _very aware_ of her lack of dress.

"I'm just going to go put something more…whole on." Bella moved to leave, but she was instantly stopped at the strong grip on her arm. Irina had grabbed her.

"How did that happen?" She questioned, concern and suspicion warring in her voice. At her words, the rest of the Denalis saw what she was referring to, and suddenly she was surrounded by _confused_ , worried vampires.

"Whoa, that's hardcore." Kate commented before Tanya reached over to smack the back pf her head without even looking away from Bella.

The starring was making her nervous.

"Oh, well," Bella began, swallowing nervously, "there was this, uh, really big animal—"

"No animal can pierce a vampire's skin." Tanya traced the scars on her shoulder with her eyes before looking at her hand. "None have teeth that could harm us."

"Well, technically, the wolf shifters on the Rez can—"

"Did they do this to you?" Irina cut in, eyes going dark in anger.

"No!" Bella held up her hands in a placating manner. "No, the wolves are my friends, I was just saying—"

"These scars are healed." Tanya spoke calmly, like she hadn't been interrupted. "You were gone for a few minutes, and that was enough time for you to be attacked by ' _an animal'_ , feed, and heal?" Her eyes bore into Bella's, and Bella found herself unable to respond for a moment.

She looked from one Denali to the next, half-assed lies and excuses running through her head, before her shoulders slumped.

"I can't tell you."

Most of the Denalis looked shocked, but Tanya's face was as hard as stone. "Why ever not?"

"Look, I'm not—this isn't." Bella sighed. "I don't know how to explain this, Tanya. I'm trying to protect you. All of you."

"What?" Kate laughed, "No offense, kid, but I can whoop your ass any day of the week. If anything, _we_ protect _you._ "

"I know that!" Bella agreed, wringing her hands. "It's not…this isn't about protecting you in a _fight_. I know you're stronger than me." Her voice became more distressed. "But…none of you have a shield like mine."

Something sharpened in Tanya's gaze.

"What does that even mean?" Kate asked, "You're shield isn't physical, kid. I can still just as easily kick your ass—"

"We can question her later." Tanya broke in, "But right now, I think Bella needs to wash whatever that stink is out of her hair."

"Tanya, we need to know—" Eleazar began.

"Later." Her eyes allowed no arguments, and he sighed before heading back into the house with Carmen. With another concerned look from Irina, and a mocking punch from Kate, Tanya and Bella were the only two left outside.

It was silent for almost a full minute with Bella hunching under the force of Tanya's stare before she managed to speak, "Tanya, I swear—"

"We care about you, Bella." Tanya's voice was as calm as ever, but it held a sharp note underneath it. "My whole coven, myself included. It has been one strange situation after the next with you around, but you have helped my sister, Irina. You have become like family to all of us, really, and I would honestly call you a member of my coven, if you were willing."

Bella felt tears pool in her eyes, touched.

"But you need to understand something." Tanya took a step closer to her, and despite Bella's height advantage, she felt small. "I will not allow harm to befall any member of my coven. And, while that includes you, it also means I will not allow _you_ to harm any member of my coven."

Bella's eyes widened. "I would never." Tanya just looked at her. "Tanya, I swear, I would _never_ hurt any of you. You have helped me through so much. I know you haven't really known me very long, but I—" Bella swallowed past a knot in her throat. "I really do love all of you."

Tanya's eyes softened, then, seeing the truth reflected in Bella's eyes, and she nodded.

"We all care about you a great deal, Bella. But, once, we cared about our mother as well." Bella didn't entirely understand the change of topic, and Tanya could easily read that. "Our mother brought Kate, Irina, and I together. She taught us everything we knew about the vampire world and freed us from the harsh reality that so many women at that time lived. We would have done _anything_ for her." Tanya took an unnecessary breath. "And she knew that. So, when she committed a crime against the Volturi, a crime that would certainly be punished by death, she didn't tell us." She looked hard at Bella. "She kept the truth from us so that we would not be implicated in her crimes. She _protected_ us."

"…I promise I have committed no crimes against the Volturi." Bella spoke hesitantly, and Tanya seemed to relax, incrementally. "That I know of."

Tanya's eyes narrowed at her.

"Hey!" Bella put her hands up, "Don't get angry at me, no one has told me the rules, yet! Hell, I barely even know who the Volturi _are._ "

Tanya let out a tired sigh, rubbing at her brow. "Come inside, I think it is time for you to be formally introduced to the vampire world." She turned and began to walk inside, Bella following her, but she turned to speak over her shoulder at the last minute. "You really do need to take that shower first, though. You smell like death."

Bella felt like she was constantly washing blood out of her hair, and she'd never been more thankful that she lived in a time period with running water. The heat on her skin was calming her from the conversation she'd just had. Eventually, though, she had to step out and bring herself back downstairs.

The Denalis were waiting for her, and Bella was almost getting used to having these formal feeling 'meetings'.

"We don't know what all the Cullens told you, so we'll start there and work from that." Tanya gestured for her to sit, which she promptly did next to Irina.

"About the Volturi? Or the vampire world in general?" Bella asked, "Because the answer is the same for both: Basically nothing." She shrugged. "Edward told me that I was his singer, so I know what that is, and apart from that I know that we drink blood."

That got a few chuckles.

"That is one of the main ones." Kate sniggered.

"And the laws?" Tanya continued, "What did they tell you about them?"

"Um," Bella's brow furrowed, "that vampires aren't supposed to reveal themselves to humans."

Tanya nodded, "That is the most enforced rule that the Volturi hold; Vampires may not reveal themselves to humans without killing them or turning them. They don't allow any loose ends, and any vampire that is caught breaking this rule is punished with death for all those involved."

"What?" Bella's eyebrows rose to her hairline. "But the Cullens left me here."

The Denalis looked at each other before Tanya answered.

"That is something we have been discussing, yes. While we are very happy to have met you, Bella, my family has had run-ins with the Volturi in the past, and we are hesitant to bring them down upon us again. We follow the rules of the Volturi rather strictly, and the only reason we didn't report this is due to our close relationship with our cousin coven, and your already having been a vampire before we even knew of any rule breaking. We don't wish any harm upon our cousins—"

"Apart from Edward." Irina added, her eyes dark.

Tanya glanced at her, "—but it is impossible to lie to the Volturi. On of the kings, Aro, has the ability to see every thought you have ever had with just one touch. They would know instantly if we had tried to cover anything up for the Cullens, and we would become complicit in the crime. No matter our relationship with the Cullens, my coven will always come first." She finished.

"Oh," Bella uttered, a little stunned.

"You will not be punished for this, Bella." Tanya reassured her. "You were not bound to our rules at the time and have committed no crime." That hard look returned for only a moment, reminding Bella of her conversation outside.

"But the Cullens," Bella had less difficulty saying the word each time, "are in trouble?"

"We don't know. Had you still been human when we arrived, they most definitely would've been punished, but since you weren't…" Irina trailed off.

"Though, why Edward bring a human that isn't even his mate into this mess is difficult to understand." Eleazar chipped in.

"Wait, what?" Bella asked, "We are. Were. We were mates. Edward told me that, himself."

Eleazar gave her an uncomfortable look, and when she glanced at Irina next to her, a look of sympathy was on her face. "I apologize, Bella, but…you and Edward were not mates. It is impossible for a Singer to also be that vampire's mate. The mating bond doesn't allow us to do our mate any harm and being a vampire's Singer would go rather against the point."

Bella stared at him, her mind whirling.

 _They weren't mates? After everything he'd told her? Were they all lies?_

 _Is that we he refused to turn me?_

"Even then," Kate added, her voice shooting for casual despite the tension in the room, "he wouldn't have known if you were his mate. Even if you hadn't been his Singer, you were still human."

Bella managed to snap out of her thoughts at that and raised an eyebrow at Kate, feeling mildly offended.

"I _meant_ that vampires can't feel the full mating pull with humans," Kate explained, "They'll feel some sort of draw, at most, but vampires can only feel the bond in full with other vampires." Her mouth twisted into a smirk. "Or maybe those shifters, too. They've got that imprint thing, right?"

"Do you want to smell that for the rest of your life?" Irina asked her sister, to which Kate responded with a shrug and a laugh, breaking the harsh atmosphere completely.

Bella leaned back in the couch, watching the sisters bicker playfully. As much as she needed this conversation to happen, learning more about Aro just made her more concerned for Didyme. And the ability he had? Had he already known about Bella? Did he see her in Didyme's memories from the very first moment, or did he only have that ability when he was a vampire?

Would Bella's shield protect _her_ from Aro's ability if she saw him in the past the next time she saw Didyme?

She was so busy thinking, she hadn't heard the conversation switch back to the object of her thoughts.

"It's something that can be brought up at our check-in. We don't need to worry about it now." Bella heard Eleazar comment to Tanya.

Tanya tilted her head, considering his words, "That's true. Our next check-in is coming up soon, anyway, and that is usually when we are supposed to report minor crimes that don't have any immediate consequences. That will work for this."

"Sorry, what check-in?" Bella asked, causing both vampires to look at her.

"Once a decade, every coven, even the nomads, are required to check-in, so to speak, with the Volturi. It's a formality, and many nomadic covens don't pay any mind to it, but the bigger covens, such as ours and the Cullens, would be sought out if we didn't come. Our next check-in is in about a year. We will be taking you with us for your first check-in. At that time, our coven leader, Tanya, would allow Aro to read her to assess whether our coven has broken any laws." Eleazar explained.

"So, kid, we've got a year to get you fully in the know about the dos and don'ts of the vampire world." Kate grinned at her. "And hopefully you have some control over your ability by then. The Volturi won't look _too_ kindly on a vampire that could accidentally reveal vampires to the world by popping up in front of a rolling camera or something."

"Right." Bella nodded, trying not to freak out. "I'll…work on that."

"Back to training it is, then." Kate grabbed her, dragging the newborn towards the door.

"Wait, wait, wait." Bella stuck her feet, not letting Kate pull her outside. "Are there any other rules I should know about, right now?"

Tanya considered her for a moment. "None that are currently relevant or cause for concern. We will teach you the rest as we go."

Bella nodded, "Okay, thank you." And let Kate pull her outside.

Training was draining, as it somehow used up her 'limitless vampire energy' when she messed with her shield.

They didn't talk about it, but Bella was sticking to only working with that instead of trying anything with her 'teleportation' ability.

With effort, Bella was now able to expand her shield even further, covering the whole house with it and even a bit of the driveway. When focusing on individuals, she could also create little personal shields that were separate from her own. They didn't last very long, but when Kate tested it, she couldn't shock any of the other Denalis that Bella was focusing on.

It took about a week or so of training for her to get to that point. She spent most of the day training, sometimes taking a few hours to head to La Push and hangout with the wolves. Weirdly enough, the longer she spent around them, the less they smelled. Most days she also headed over to see Charlie, if only to make sure he was eating something other than pizza.

On the days she had 'off', Bella would run to Port Angeles, or even further away to Seattle, and busy herself with testing both her control, and her patience. It took some effort to 'act human'. She had never noticed that they were constantly moving until her own blood had stopped pumping through her veins. It was a conscious effort not to look like a statue all of the time.

She also liked to browse the shops.

She'd tried to vary it a little, not only stopping at book stores, but she usually ended up surrounded by shelves of the novels by the end of the day. With Charlie still trying to give her allowances and the Denalis having followed Alice into the stock market, Bella had enough money to buy all the books she wanted.

She needed something to do with her free time. Her attention span was way too small to be able to occupy herself by meditating, or whatever it was that Eleazar recommended.

She ended up with a variety of books, many of which were history books. She'd varied the time periods and told the Denalis that she'd always liked history. Adding in that she'd rather know the history of the places she ended up in helped sell that story. She did, however, find some informative books on Ancient Greece as well as Rome. She'd even managed to find a Latin dictionary after she recalled the few words that were spoken in a language other than Greek.

Turns out, Latin is ridiculous, but Bella was trying. Having a vampire brain was fantastic for memorization.

And, after opening her books on Ancient Greece, Bella had discovered that the time period that she continued to show up in, at least for Didyme, was actually _over 3,000 years ago._

Bella wondered if it was possible for a vampire to hyperventilate.

Before she knew it, a month had passed.

"No no no no no no NO!" Bella slumped her head in defeat as laughter boomed from the vampire beside her. "This isn't funny Kate. I don't know how, but you _are_ cheating. Nobody is that good at Mario Kart, and you took a shortcut that _I swear_ didn't exist last time we played this course."

"Whatever you say, sore loser." Kate practically preened as Princess Peach did her victory pose on screen, Luigi, Yoshi, and Baby Mario stood in the back.

"At least you got second," Irina frowned, "I still don't understand how I manage to get hit with every single shell that every single person throws."

"Stop choosing Luigi, then." Kate said.

"What does that have to do with—"

Bella's hands tingled.

"Oh shit, here we go." She gritted her teeth, focusing on the exercises Eleazar and Kate had mentioned. She took deep, unnecessary breaths, attempting to ground herself, and concentrated on keeping herself calm rather than letting her panic take hold.

For a moment, under the watchful eyes of the Denalis, Bella almost had it. She kept her mind calm, and she managed to relax herself enough to gently stop the progress of her fading body.

She honestly thought she would have been able to reverse the process and stay there, but there was something behind the pull.

She hadn't noticed it before, usually too consumed with panic and confusion, but under a calmer eye she could feel something _different._ It was almost foreign, like a part of her power didn't truly belong to her, and that part was pulling her away. She could've resisted it, but in the few moments that she felt it, it seemed almost…desperate.

She needed to go.

With a conscious effort, Bella let herself fade.


	17. Chapter 17

This was the first time Bella had been near people when she arrived.

It was an instant thing. Bella faded in to see a man covered in dirt shoving another man into the ground. Behind him a woman screamed, and Bella noticed she wasn't screaming at her, thankfully. None of them had seemed to notice her, yet, but she rushed forward to stop the man from stomping on the throat of the one on the ground.

She made sure not to use her supernatural speed, only moving to shove him away from the man with a slightly more than human strength.

The man on the ground looked at her with a mix of shock and gratitude, but the other man was stumbling back up, staring at her with fury in his eyes. As he opened his mouth, however, more men rushed into what Bella now realized was a garden. Almost all of them were armed in some manner, and upon seeing the man on the ground and Bella standing over him, they rushed over and surrounded her, pointing their spears out toward her.

Bella froze, slowly raising her hands into the air in a placating manner. She was thankful, now, for her decision to not feed for the past few days. Her eyes were not a gleaming red that would have made these people attack her on sight, but instead a darker burgundy. It looked brown in the right lighting.

" _Wait!_ " She heard the man on the ground push himself up, dusting himself off, " _She was not the one who attacked me. It was…"_ He cut off, looking around and not finding a trace of the other man. Bella was a little impressed that he'd gotten away without her sensing it, but she had been a bit preoccupied with the spears in her face.

One of the guards shuffled a bit, " _Apologies, sir, but she is trespassing on the master's property, we have to take her away."_

" _Don't take her to the stocks."_ The young man almost ordered them, " _She may not belong here, but she undoubtedly saved my life. Take her to my father._ "

The guards glanced at each other, obviously a bit uncomfortable, like they weren't entirely used to receiving orders from him. Bella had noticed that he didn't seem incredibly confident giving the orders, either. After a moment of hesitation, they nodded, and Bella was surrounded by suspicious men, leading her in the direction of a massive looking house.

She knew she could escape. It would be incredibly easy to just blur out of sight, she wouldn't even need to hurt anyone, but they were watching her like a hawk, and Bella didn't know if she should risk exposing herself as something inhuman. The Volturi may not be completely formed at this period in time, but there almost definitely some for of government, and Bella didn't want to meet it.

She let them take her into the house.

Honestly, when Bella heard "the master" and was led around by guards at spearpoint, she expected something a bit more…daunting.

The older, kind looking man she was led in front of didn't exactly give off a menacing vibe. He wasn't so old as to be elderly, but old enough that Bella could see the relaxed confidence and comfortable nature that came with settling into your role in life. This man had been "the master" of this house for a long time. He sat at the head of a long table.

But it wasn't him that caught her attention, it was his wife.

As Bella was led into a large dinning room, she was made to stare into the very familiar, very wide brown eyes of the mother that she had saved twice now; once with a baby in her arms on the street, and the second time in the forest with those bandits. She sat beside the man, the cup she held sloshing a bit from the startled jerk of her hand.

" _What is this?"_ The man asked the guards, gesturing toward Bella with a nod of his head.

The man that had led the group stepped forward, " _Master, we found this woman standing above your son in the gardens. He was injured, and we took action."_

" _Hold on!"_ the son spoke up, " _She saved me!"_ At the words, the woman sitting next to the 'master' seemed to snap out of her stupor, setting down her glass and training her full attention on the matter. " _There was another man in the gardens that tried to kill me, and she showed up just in time to push him off of me. Flavia can attest to that. She witnessed the entire thing."_

The man seemed to consider his son for a moment, before turning back to Bella. " _And what do you have to say? How did you come to be in my gardens at just the right time to 'save' my son from an attacker?"_

Bella stood silent for a moment, glancing from the man to the guards and back again. She floundered as she tried to come up for some plausible reason for being in such a heavily guarded house without anyone noticing her until that point. " _I…"_

" _She is the new attendant I told you about."_ The woman seated beside the man spoke for the first time, directing her words to him.

" _When did you have time to hire her in such short notice, Cassandra? And how did you get her past the guards?"_ The man questioned her, looking confused.

" _I believe,_ " the woman, Cassandra, glanced toward the guards before looking back to the man, " _that this conversation would best be held without an armed audience."_ She gave him a pointed look.

The man sighed, waiting a moment before raising his hand to wave off the guards. " _You are dismissed, you may return to your posts."_ The guards didn't hesitate to march off at his words, leaving the room immediately. " _And you as well, Lenius."_ The son, Lenius looked like he was about to argue, but a stern look from his father had him hightailing it out after the guards.

When the room was finally clear of all but three, he gestured for Cassandra to speak.

" _It was a test, Bastian."_ At his narrowed eyes, she continued. " _You are well aware that our children have needed some…extra protection, as of late. And Sulpicia was in need of a new attendant when the most recent one quit. I thought it prudent to hire more…efficiently. This woman will serve as both attendant and guard to our daughter, hidden in plain sight."_

" _That still doesn't explain why she was in our gardens without the guards knowing."_

" _When I hired her, I asked her to find any potential holes in our security, and it appears she found a rather large one. She was acting on my orders."_ She replied, calmly.

The two stared at each other for a long moment, Bastion with narrowed eyes and Cassandra with a serene smile, before his eyes closed and his shoulders slumped.

" _Next time you see fit to 'test' our guards, do make sure to warn me, love."_ He pinched the bridge of his nose.

" _Of course. The attack, however, was not planned. You should speak with the guards about that."_ He waved her off, and she stood, making her way toward Bella, passing her by with a nod that indicated that Bella should follow her.

It was a silent walk, Cassandra leading Bella down a few hallways and up a flight of stairs before she stopped at a large door at the end of the hall, stepping inside and holding it open for Bella. As soon as the door shut, Cassandra rounded on her with wide eyes.

Bella waited, feeling uncomfortable in the silence, as Cassandra's eyes roved over her with fear and awe.

" _You…you've returned."_ Cassandra swallowed. Bella, not knowing how to respond, simply nodded.

" _I have, but I do not know how long I can stay."_ Bella watched Cassandra blink owlishly at her smooth voice and decided to try and make it sound rougher and more human when speaking with human beings. It obviously made them uncomfortable.

It was still so weird to think of human beings as something other than herself.

Cassandra remained silent for a moment, and Bella started to worry. She didn't know how to get out of this without the woman finding out what she was, or, at the very least, knowing she isn't human. She'd already seen her move faster than any human could possibly achieve in those woods, and she'd seen her drink blood. Not to mention she'd disappeared in front of her twice.

Bella didn't want to fuck up history by revealing vampires thousands of years before she was even born. While she may not be willing to stand by and watch people die, she didn't entirely think through the consequences of her actions. If she didn't find a way to keep Cassandra quiet about this, things could go badly, and fast.

But, no matter how obvious the solution was, Bella couldn't do it. Bella couldn't kill this woman. While it would ensure her silence, she felt a strange sort of bond with her. It wasn't sexual or romantic, and Bella knew it wasn't like a Singer or anything that the Denalis had told her. It may have resulted from simply saving her twice already, but Bella didn't want all of that to be for nothing.

She would have to find another way to keep her quiet. Maybe she could threaten her? Bella may not feel very terrifying at times, but she knew the effect of a vampire on humans, so she could pull off some kind of intimidation of scare tactic. If she had to resort to it, she might be able to convince people that the woman was simply mistaken. Who would believe that a woman could take on that many men at the same time? Or, maybe she could—

" _I did not think the lady Artemis would send you, again."_

What.

Bella just barely managed to keep her face carefully blank. " _I…"_ People wrote about having visions from their gods and speaking with messengers from them all of the time, right? That's basically one of the only things Bella knew about Greek Mythology. " _cannot stay forever."_

" _Of course._ " Cassandra nodded her head deferentially. " _I imagine the Lady would miss one of her huntresses after not too long."_

Bella tried not to panic, keeping her face stoic.

" _What I spoke of earlier,"_ Cassandra spoke haltingly, like she was nervous of Bella's reaction, " _I did not mean to offend. I know you are no servant, I merely wished to aid you. It seemed that you did not wish for my husband to know of your origins."_

" _Our Lady has never appreciated having her affairs interfered with by men._ " Artemis was the 'no dudes' goddess, right? Right. " _And she has instructed me to remain unknown by mortals. I am here for a short time, merely to observe or, as I have demonstrated, protect."_

Cassandra's shoulders dropped as she released a heavy sigh of relief, and her eyes closed. " _Thank you. I…don't know how to repay you for saving my daughter and me. Again. And now my son."_ She glanced up at Bella cautiously. " _And now I fear I must ask for you to protect my child, once more."_ Before Bella could so much as blink, Cassandra rushed out, " _I know I have nothing to give the Lady other than devotion, and for you I can only offer my thanks, as I know the Hunters don't value wealth, but please hear my plea."_

Bella watched with wide eyes as Cassandra dropped to her knees, looking up at her. " _My family is in danger. My cousin wants my title, and all that comes with it, and he is willing to go to any lengths to take it. There are always guards on myself and my husband, and more recently we have assigned some to my son, but my daughter is unprotected. We have men guarding her as well, but they cannot follow her everywhere that a servant can. You could protect her, and I promise you would not be known as anything more than a servant, so the Lady would not have to worry. I beg you, please help my daughter."_ There were tears in her eyes as she put her hands on her knees and bowed her head.

That…would take care of quite a few problems, staying with this family as merely another servant for hire, but it would cause a few more. She would be constantly around this daughter of Cassandra's, if she understood her plea correctly, and Bella had no doubt the daughter would ask questions if she randomly disappeared. She had been gaining a bit more control over her ability, though. She could probably hold it off until she was alone, then fade out.

She wouldn't need to worry about Cassandra revealing her, and she would have a place to stay while she was here. And something to do, though she wasn't too sure how she felt about the whole 'being a servant' thing.

She looked over the woman kneeling on the ground, and Bella couldn't help but feel sorry for her. This woman was just a mother trying to protect her family. She couldn't say no if she wanted to.

"… _While I remain here, I will protect your daughter to the best of my abilities."_ Cassandra's head whipped up to stare at her, and Bella continued, " _But, to be clear, I must leave some nights to hunt."_ She didn't clarify that she'd be hunting humans, but Cassandra had called her a Huntress, it was as good a cover as any. Cover, oh shit. " _And, when I am outdoors during the day, I must be covered from head to toe."_ She received a very confused look at that, so she clarified. " _I…look a bit less mortal when I am in direct sunlight, and I need to remain hidden."_

" _Of course, Huntress, thank you."_

" _Bella."_ Cassandra looked startled, and Bella barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Why did people always freak out when she told them her name?

" _Bella."_ Cassandra nodded before rising to one knee. Bella reached down to help her up, and practically placed her on her feet after forgetting how strong she was and picking her up a bit. Cassandra's eyes were wide, but she swallowed and thanked her. " _Please, follow me and I will show you to where you will be staying, at least for the night."_

Cassandra led her out of the room, up another staircase, until she was on the top floor of the large house. This level was seemingly separated from the rest, as the staircase had a door that could shut it out, and it only had three doors. One was on the far-right end, and Cassandra led her toward that. When she opened it, it showed three beds all next to each other with various shelves and chests that contained personal items from those who lived in this room.

" _Is this where I will be staying?"_ Bella asked, eyeing the three beds that looked like they had all been recently occupied.

" _No,"_ Cassandra responded, " _This is where Sulpicia's other attendants sleep. You will meet with them in the morning, and I will inform them of your…unique position."_ Bella glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. " _Not everything, just that you will be my daughter's attendant, as well as a bit of protection. But these girls have been working for our family for as long my youngest child has been alive. They know far greater secrets than that. I will not be telling them of your origin."_

With that, she closed the doors and led her toward the other end of the hall. On this side there were two doors. One was on the far end, and it looked like that room took up the majority of the floor. The door for it was a bit grandiose as well, looking hand carved. The other door was on the wall opposite the staircase, and that's the one Cassandra led her to.

" _This will be your room."_ She opened the door, allowing Bella inside and following behind her, shutting the door. The room was a bit larger than the one she had at Charlie's house. It had a bed, an actual bed, that looked bigger than a twin, but not quite a queen, and a large chest at the foot of it. There was a window on the far side, and when Bella inspected it, it opened up to look into the gardens and the vast sweeping hills of land beyond.

It was breathtaking.

" _This is the room that belonged to my daughter's main attendant, Luna. She passed away a few years back, and ever since there has been a new attendant in this room every few months. The last one lasted only 12 days before Sulpicia drove her away."_ Cassandra looked both put out and slightly amused at the statement, before her eyes cleared and she focused on Bella. " _The reason I put you here is more for security, though. And convenience."_

She walked up to the wall opposite the bed. It was covered by a large tapestry, beautifully woven and depicting a large owl held aloft on the arm of a beautiful woman with a bow on her back. It had the same inscription along its borders that the necklace that still hung around Bella's neck had. With a nearly shy looked toward Bella after motioning toward the tapestry, Cassandra pushed it aside to reveal the wall behind.

Except, the wall looked a bit off.

To the normal eye, it would have looked like a regular wall, but Bella's enhanced vision made out some kind of strange crack, nearly invisible, that ran a ways up from the ground, across the wall at one point, and then back down the other side. The crack faded seamlessly along the indent in the wall that made up the strange pattern the rest of the room's walls bore.

Cassandra's hand ran along the seam, and Bella watched as her hand stopped a bit above her head and pushed in. Then, Bella heard the strangest grating sound as she watched the wall _open_.

" _This is the main reason I wanted you to stay in this room."_ Cassandra gestured with her head toward the dark hallway that expanded maybe 10 feet forward before it came to a stop at another door, this one with a handle. " _This room connects with my daughter's through this passage way. She has a similar tapestry that hides the same mechanism in her room."_

She pulled Bella over to see how she activated the small push button on the wall, and the door slid closed. " _This will allow you to access my daughter's room if there is an emergency, or if you need to do so unnoticed. We don't know how skilled my cousin's men are, but we took precautions in case of assassins of a higher caliber. He has grown more desperate the older Bastien gets. He knows that when Bastien dies, it solidifies Lenius as heir to the fortune and head of the house."_ She looked lost in thought for a moment before she smiled half heartedly at Bella. " _And that concludes our tour. The girls will show you more in the morning, and I will have clothes delivered to you immediately. For now, get some rest. Tomorrow you will meet my daughter."_ She gave Bella a concerned look, and Bella was starting to worry that maybe this daughter of Cassandra's might be a bit more than she bargained for.

With one final look at Bella, her eyes still filled with awe and a hint of fear, Cassandra left the room, closing the door behind her, and Bella let herself flop down on the bed.

 _What has she gotten herself into, now?_

 **I might not be able to update nearly as frequently for a while. Senior classes are hugely stressful, and i don't get much free time. I'll try to keep writing, but i'm sorry if you have to wait a bit. Please leave reviews and let me know what you think is going to happen next!**


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